Wickedly split: Dueling statues reflect Maryland’s lingering division

Native Marylanders have had the conversation, both versions of it, dozens of times. To folks north of here, we live in the South. To folks south of here, we live in the North. Attending a Southern college that drew many students from the Northeast, I found the geographic ambiguity of my home state to be a surprisingly popular mealtime topic.

In so many words, I told friends from Ohio and Alabama or Massachusetts and North Carolina: You’re both right.

Maryland’s border state status has sowed social, economic and political conflict throughout its history, leading up to and during the Civil War, as we are reading about in “Wicked Baltimore,” and well into the 20th century, as we read about in “Roots of Steel.”

Reminders of the split are everywhere, even if you don’t open up a history book. Take the two statues at opposite ends of the Wyman Park Dell near the Baltimore Museum of Art.

West of the dell is a monument, commissioned privately and erected in 1948, to Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Inscribed at the foot of the double-equstrian statue is a quotation from the man who funded it, in his will, banker J. Henry Ferguson.

THEY WERE GREAT GENERALS AND CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS AND WAGED WAR LIKE GENTLEMEN

Southeast of the dell is a monument, commissioned by the state of Maryland and dedicated at its original location at Druid Hill Park in 1909, to Union soldiers and sailors. Inscribed on the front of the monument, which features a union solider and allegorical figures representing victory and war, is a simple dedication.

ERECTED BY THE STATE OF MARYLAND TO COMMEMORATE THE PATRIOTISM AND HEROIC COURAGE OF HER SONS WHO ON LAND AND SEA FOUGHT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE FEDERAL UNION IN THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865.

See more pictures of the Confederate and Union monuments on Flickr.

Read more about Monument City’s monuments’ mixed-messages in this 1998 City Paper piece.

Map image © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC BY-SA

Baltimore’s locomotive law of unintended consequences

Ordinance banning steam engines downtown exploited in Baltimore Plot and Pratt Street Riot

A city ordinance passed to promote safety ended up setting the stage for two of the most dangerous episodes in Baltimore’s history.

The Baltimore Plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln and the first bloodshed of the Civil War during the Pratt Street Riot weeks later, both detailed in Lauren Silberman’s “Wicked Baltimore,” each hinged on the vulnerability of passengers as horses pulled their train cars or carriages between downtown depots.

The transfers were necessary because steam locomotives could not travel through the center of the city. An 1830s ordinance banned them, a reading on the B&O Railroad Museum’s website says, out of concern for the safety of pedestrians and cart operators in the crowded downtown. In addition to the fire risk, there were worries about how horses would react to the large, noisy, fast-moving train engines, according to the reading, adapted from John F. Stover’s “History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.”

So, the horses got more horses. Even though the B&O pioneered American use of steam locomotives with the Tom Thumb demonstration in 1830, more than two decades later, it still owned dozens of horses, in part due to Baltimore’s ordinance, according to the museum Web page.

The people got, in most cases, an inconvenience. People being targeted, however, got a potential death trap.

Reconnaissance by Allan Pinkerton, an associate of Lincoln’s in Illinois whose family detective business (pdf) grew into a nationwide agency with thousands of employees, helped convince the incoming president as much, leading to Lincoln’s famous midnight ride into Washington. Quoting Pinkerton’s memoir, “Wicked Baltimore” details what the would-be assassins might have done once Lincoln was in the open-air carriage that was to take him from Calvert Street to Camden Street.

Here it was arranged that but a small force of policemen should be stationed, and as the President arrived a disturbance would be created which would attract the attention of these guardians of the peace, and this accomplished, it would be an easy task for a determined man to shoot the President, and, aided by his companions, succeed in making his escape.

Less than two months later, the 720 Massachusetts Minutemen dispatched to secure Washington following Fort Sumter could not hide as easily as a single, if tall, politician. The pro-South crowd that greeted them laid anchors and sand between the depots, according to our book, forcing soldiers to exit their horse-drawn train cars and start marching — fast — the rest of the way to Camden Street from President Street.

In hindsight, they moved perhaps too fast. Their rapid gait, Silberman relates, emboldened the crowd, who inferred that the soldiers were running away because they were unarmed.

While not as noteworthy, there is at least one more incident recounted in “Wicked Baltimore” where a mob exploited the city’s transportation quirk.

Even as the influence of Baltimore’s deadly political gangs waned, they maintained a presence as the nation prepared to choose its first elected president since Lincoln. During the 1868 campaign, a pro-Democrat group — whom, Silberman writes, a Washington newspaper reporter called “one of the most villainous and cut-throat looking mobs that ever disgraced even Baltimore” — commandeered decoupled train cars and interrogated passengers it believed planned to vote for Republicans.

Public domain Pratt Street Riot depiction via Wikimedia Commons

Events this weekend: Happy hour, CityLit Festival, and ArtBlooms at the Walters Art Museum

Aside from the RTC/Young Preservationists happy hour tomorrow, there are a few other great events going on around town this weekend.

The annual CityLit Festival is this Saturday at the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Central Branch (Cathedral and Mulberry Streets). This is a quality festival that is much more intimate than the larger city Book Festival. You have more opportunities to interact with the participating authors and the fellow attendees. I’m hoping to make it to the 11am session about Bodine’s City: The Photography of A. Aubrey Bodine, but will definitely be at the 12:30pm session about From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story; From Animal House to Our House co-author Ron Tanner will also be at the Friday happy hour. There are plenty of non-Baltimore focused sessions as well so take a look at the schedule and stop by.

And while you’re in Mount Vernon, take a short walk and check out ArtBlooms 2012 at the Walters Art Museum: “Floral interpretations will be on view in the special exhibition Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection Gift.” Worth braving the crowds!

How is everyone progressing with Wicked Baltimore? I just finished the book last night so hopefully we can get some discussions going next week!

 

Remember: tomorrow’s happy hour will be at Brewer’s Art from 6-8pm, and the author of Wicked Baltimore, Lauren Silberman, will be joining us. Please stop by!

Happy hour with the Young Preservationists

I’m so pleased that Baltimore Heritage invited our little group to join them for the Young Preservationists Happy Hour this Friday April 13 at Brewer’s Art. Come out and meet Wicked Baltimore author Lauren Silberman and some nice, like-minded folks. You need not be either young or an official preservationist, just friendly and interested in the continued care of Baltimore’s storied architectural and community histories. Also joining us is Ron Tanner, author of From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story and a panelist at Saturday’s CityLit Festival.

If you are planning to attend, I would highly recommend stopping over at the Baltimore Heritage website and add your name to the event’s RSVP list – Baltimore Heritage will be giving away free tickets to one of their acclaimed Behind the Scenes tours.

 

—–

Brewer’s Art: http://www.thebrewersart.com/,  GoogleMap

Baltimore Heritage: http://www.baltimoreheritage.org/

CityLit: http://www.citylitproject.org/

Lauren Silberman: http://www.lsilberman.com

New Edgar Allan Poe movie

Given the focus on Edgar Allen Poe in Wicked Baltimore, I was particularly interested when I saw the trailer for the new Poe-centric movie this weekend:

Let’s set the following questions aside:

• Is the movie set in Baltimore?
• Was Poe as tall as Cusack?
• What other actors would have been better suited for this role?
• Is this a rip off of Saw set in ye olden times?

Will you be seeing “The Raven” when it is released? For me, it’s not the kind of movie that I would normally be interested in, but given my new interest in Poe and his legacy I am actually more interested in seeing how the filmmakers resolve this story. Especially if it is set in Baltimore, as opposed to Richmond or Philadelphia. I’ll be much more impressed if they write some Plug Uglies into the script.

Who is reading Wicked Baltimore?

April is here and I’m already well into Wicked Baltimore – and enjoying it quite a bit! So far there have been tales of grave robbers, theories about Edgar Allan Poe’s mysterious death, and deadly mobs involving political gangs and city elections. Nothing boring here, that’s for sure. So who is reading along? Please feel free to comment and share where you are and any early thoughts. And if you’re reading any other books worth sharing, please share those titles also!

If you haven’t yet picked up your copy of Wicked Baltimore, you can do so through Lauren Silberman’s website, or buy the e-book version through both Barnes & Noble and Amazon. If you’ve seen the book available in local bookstores, please share that information here!

And remember: Lauren Silberman herself will be joining Read That City and Baltimore Heritage next Friday April 13th at Brewer’s Art (6-8pm). Come on out and meet some like-minded folks and enjoy a beer or soda at one of Baltimore’s most revered watering holes.

Like us on Facebook!

You can now follow Read That City on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReadThatCity

I’ll be including links to posts in addition to sharing some articles and smaller items from around the web. Join us!

Selections for April

And we’re back! Thank you for bearing with me during the March hiatus. I think we’re going to come back strong for April…

Wicked Baltimore by Lauren R Silberman

Book: “Wicked Baltimore: Charm City and Scandal” by Lauren R Silberman! From the author’s website:

As home to Edgar Allan Poe’s body, the acerbic wit of H.L. Mencken and Fells Point’s nest of pirates, Baltimore revels in the deliciously dark side of its history.  From the incensed citizens of 1808 who torched a cargo of Geneva gin on Hampstead Hill to the Gilded Age socialite who allegedly poisoned four family members, the city’s early history is littered with tales of raucous violence and sordid misdeeds. Local author Lauren R. Silberman leads readers through the horrors of slave pens, the chaos of the Pratt Street Riots, and the backroom speakeasies of Prohibition to reveal the sinister and scintillating face of Charm City.

This book looks like a lot of fun. It also calls for a rainy spring day – this would be perfect to read in a cozy coffee shop or bar down in Fell’s Pint looking out at the stormy harbor. Save the lighter reading for a sunny day.

Event #1:  Yes, there are two! Firstly, Baltimore Heritage has invited the Read That City crew to join their seasonal Young Preservationists happy hour at Brewer’s Art on Friday April 13. And Lauren Silberman herself will be joining us! There will not likely be a raucous violence or sordid misdeeds, but you never know what will happen in the basement of Brewer’s – and on Friday the 13th no less.

Event #2: The annual CityLit Festival is being held on Saturday April 14th at the Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. The CityLit Festival is one of my favorites in Baltimore and if you have never been I encourage you to come out on the 14th. Support local authors and area presses by browsing the Literary Marketplace downstairs and check out one (or more) of the many panels, lectures, and readings being held throughout the day. The schedule is available on the Festival’s website; there is a full day of quality programming available but these two sessions should be of particular interest for Baltimore history fans:

• Bodine’s City: The Photography of A. Aubrey Bodine (11am in the Poe Room)
• From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story (12:30 in the Student Services dept) “Ron Tanner and Jill Eicher chart their journey turning a (seriously!) dilapidated frat house into their lovely Charles Village home.”

I’ll be attending both sessions so please say hello!

Additionally, throughout the month there will be new content here on the RTC blog so remember to stop back by and join the discussion. Many many thanks to Steve Earley for his contributions in February. I’m hoping to add more contributors and reviews, dedicated discussion posts, and a few other monthly features – these should be rolling out over the next couple of months. And as always: if you have any comments, suggestions, questions, or if you are interested in becoming a contributor, please contact me directly at readthatcity@gmail.com

- Lindsey

March hiatus

I’ve decided to put this project on hiatus for the month of March so that we can all come back in full force in April. There are several things that I should have done before launching last month that were not completed in time. I probably should have waited a bit more before launching, but hey - live and learn, right?

Please feel free to contact me (readthatcity at gmail.com) at any time if you have questions, suggestions, or have an idea for the blog, book club, or group event. I’m also looking for more contributors – many many thanks to Steve Earley for his great essays last month!

Tonight!

Join us tonight at the Village Learning Place to hear Dr. Nicole King’s talk about the neighborhoods of Baybrook in south Baltimore. More information available here. See you then!