Category: Public History

Preparing Interpretive Plan Exploring the Havre de Grace Storylines During the War of 1812

havre de grace interpretive plan
The Havre de Grace Interpretive Plan.

I have been working as a consulting public historian since 2011 on a project to document the story of Havre de Grace around the time the British burned the town in May 1813.

This work was part of the development of the Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail.  As one of two project historians, my assignment was to design and direct research focused on the community narrative.  Another historian worked on the military aspect.

My final assignment involved preparation of an interpretative plan for the heritage museums of Havre de Grace.  The document focused on helping those stakeholders deliver their unique storyline to the public during the Bicentennial.

It was an exciting project, as I worked with a great group of volunteers, local historians, museums and community subject matter experts to piece together the forgotten parts of the town’s past and develop the Havre de Grace Interpretive Plan.

Making Sure Fallen Officers from Long Ago are not Forgotten in Delaware and Maryland

An officer makes a call from a Wilmington police call box.
Wilmington Police call box.

Occasionally while doing a study on some subject related to criminal justice history, I’ll find some hint in the old records related to a long forgotten, undocumented fallen police officer. When that happens, I pick up the evidentiary traces and follow the trail back through the old sources, to make sure the officer’s ultimate sacrifice isn’t forgotten in the mist of time.

Over the decades, I have found officers in Wilmington, Clayton, and Crisfield who fell in the line of duty, but were never listed on national, state, or local memorials or remembered in their community. Usually when the tragic occurrence is pointed out and the facts around the incident have been sorted out, an officer or retiree from the department picks it up from there, making sure that the individual’s ultimate sacrifice is honored and recognized by the agency and the community the officer served.

Right now a Wilmington Police Department retiree is working to get Officer Charles Schultz listed on the official record. The patrolman gave his life while serving the citizens of Wilmington more than a century ago.  The tragic death in 1891 caused a sensation at the time but once he was lowered into his grave memory faded as generations passed and the lawman was largely forgotten except for headlines in old yellowing newspapers at the Delaware Public Archives.

It’s important not to forget those who gave everything to the communities they served.  So it is good to see them finally honored and remembered, as their names are formally added to the department’s roll and etched on the memorials.  Now it’s going to happen in Wilmington as this retired patrolman takes on that task of remembering this fallen police officer.

Marriage Discussed on National Public Radio Show

Two broadcast journalists from “Back Story with the American History Guys,” a public radio show, interviewed me a few weeks ago for a show titled “Committed: Marriage in America.” The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia sponsor the shows, which bring “historical perspective to the events happening around us today. On each installment, renowned U.S. historians . . . tear a topic from the headlines and plumb its historical depths.” As they explore the roots of what’s going on today, they seek to reveal connections or disconnections between the past and the present.

For this past week’s airing the headline under the magnifying glass concerned marriage in America.  From the colonial era to the present, the hosts examined a range of issues.  I talked to them about quickie marriages in Maryland in the 1930s, a time when one place in the State was “Vegas before Vegas was Vega.”  By the time of the Great Depression eloping to Elkton had entered the nation’s lexicon” so I explained how that all came about for the University of Virginia broadcasters.

Marriage in America a radio show from BackStory on NPR
Committed: Marriage in America

Participating in Summit of Local and Regional Historical Societies, Taking Stock & Planning for the Future

I participated in the Summit of Local and Regional Historical Societies in Baltimore, a couple of weeks ago (May 16). Attended by representatives from historical societies, heritage groups and museums throughout Maryland, we began to take stock of the challenges, strengths, and weakness of museums and special collections libraries and started outlining an agenda for subsequent discussions about planning for the future. It was a helpful experience to hear about the challenges we’re all facing as patron expectations change in the 21st century. It was also interesting to see how similar the problems are and what the opportunities are with things like social media and new types of programming for another generation of patrons. Since this was the start of the summit, meetings will continue through the remainder of 2011.