Underbelly

Thomas Poppleton's Surveyor's Map that Made Baltimore, 1822

December 17th 2015

Between 1776 and 1820 Baltimore grew like kudzu on a riverbank.  Geographically three settlements, the original town, Old town and…

 

Lost No More: Recovering Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s "Forest Leaves"

December 2nd 2015

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s first book of poems had been considered lost to history for well over one hundred years.…

 

A sneak preview of "Paul Henderson: Photographing Morgan (1947–1955)"

December 2nd 2015

Underbelly presents this sneak preview ahead of the opening of the Maryland Historical Society’s popular traveling exhibition of the work…

 

John Niernsee: Architect, Engineer and Surveyor

November 5th 2015

John Rudolph Niernsee (1814-1885) was one of Baltimore’s most prolific and successful architects. Over the course of his nearly 50 year…

 

Here at Last He is Happy: The Death and Burial of Edgar Allan Poe

October 22nd 2015

“There are some secrets that do not permit themselves to be told.” –Edgar Allan Poe, “The Man of the Crowd,”…

 

When Maryland Almost Got Philadelphia: The Remarkable Story of the Mason-Dixon Line

October 6th 2015

It takes a shrewd fellow indeed to persuade the King of England to grant him a charter to all the…

 

Maryland on Film II: Free Fall/Bird Flu edition

September 29th 2015

Choo! We think our birds have the flu. Neither the O’s nor the Ravens can catch a break lately, so…

 

The entire Julius Anderson Photograph Collection is now online

September 24th 2015

  In order to raise awareness of our amazing photograph collections, the H. Furlong Baldwin Library at the Maryland Historical…

 

Baltimore’s Wrestling Superfans

September 17th 2015

Long-time fans of professional wrestling will remember the sport’s golden age—the ’80s—when stars such as Dusty Rhodes, Bruno Sammartino, Ric…

 

E.J. Gallagher: Builder of Lifetime Homes

September 3rd 2015

In the first decades of the twentieth century Baltimore saw a boom in rowhouse building that came to be dominated…

 

Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte - The Woman I Have Come to Know

August 13th 2015

Elizabeth “Betsy” Patterson Bonaparte was just another name to me when I arrived at MdHS in 2012 as a volunteer…

 

“A Somewhat Noted Controversialist, of Baltimore”: The Reform Career of the Reverend Andrew B. Cross, 1810-1889

July 23rd 2015

Andrew Boyd Cross was a strongly polarizing figure in the divisive public issues confronting the United States, the state of…

 

Designing the Washington Monument

July 2nd 2015

This Independence Day weekend, Baltimore celebrates the rededication of its most recognizable landmark, the Washington Monument. The Mount Vernon Place…

 

Life as a Fellow in the MdHS Library: The Changing Geography of Crisfield, Smith Island, and Tangier Sound

June 11th 2015

As a Wing Fellow in Chesapeake Bay Maritime History at the Maryland Historical Society, I have spent the last year…

 

Lizette Woodworth Reese and the Poetry of Spring

April 16th 2015

Lizette Woodworth Reese was one of the most beloved poets to live and write in Baltimore. Her crisp but lyrical…