17,394
edits
Changes
→Higher culture: add
The new Maryland state constitution of 1864 ended slavery and provided for the education of all children, including blacks. The Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People established schools for blacks that were taken over by the public school system, which then restricted education for blacks beginning in 1867 when Democrats regained control of the city. Establishing an unequal system that prepared white students for citizenship while using education to reinforce black subjugation, Baltimore's postwar school system exposed the contradictions of race, education, and republicanism in an age when African Americans struggled to realize the ostensible freedoms gained by emancipation.<ref>Robert S. Wolff, "The Problem of Race in the Age of Freedom: Emancipation and the Transformation of Republican Schooling in Baltimore, 1860-1867," ''Civil War History'' 2006 52(3): 229-254 </ref>
The new Maryland state constitution of 1864 ended slavery and provided for the education of all children, including blacks. The Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People established schools for blacks that were taken over by the public school system, which then restricted education for blacks beginning in 1867 when Democrats regained control of the city. Establishing an unequal system that prepared white students for citizenship while using education to reinforce black subjugation, Baltimore's postwar school system exposed the contradictions of race, education, and republicanism in an age when African Americans struggled to realize the ostensible freedoms gained by emancipation.<ref>Robert S. Wolff, "The Problem of Race in the Age of Freedom: Emancipation and the Transformation of Republican Schooling in Baltimore, 1860-1867," ''Civil War History'' 2006 52(3): 229-254 </ref>
==Higher culture==
==Higher culture==
Baltimore is the site of the Johns Hopkins University (1876), a premier research institution best known for its medical school. Other notable schools are the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (1873), Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University (formerly the Peabody Conservatory of Music; founded 1857), and Goucher College (1885) in suburban Towson. Much of the work of higher education is done by the University of Maryland-Baltimore, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, the University of Maryland, and Towson State University. The Baltimore Museum of Art, the Peale Museum, and the Walters Art Gallery have notable collections of art, and the B & O Railroad Museum houses an impressive collection of railroad memorabilia. The Morris Mechanic Theater, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera Company, and Fort McHenry (its successful defense against the British in 1814, inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner") are other major attractions. Nearby Pimlico Race Track is the site of the Preakness Stakes, a major event in horse racing. Druid Hill Park contains the city zoo and a natural history museum. The ''[[U.S.S. Constellation]]'', launched in Baltimore in 1797 and today the oldest U.S. warship afloat, is a major tourist attraction in the harbor.
Baltimore is the site of the Johns Hopkins University (1876), a premier research institution best known for its medical school. Other notable schools are the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (1873), Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University (formerly the Peabody Conservatory of Music; founded 1857), and Goucher College (1885) in suburban Towson. Much of the work of higher education is done by the University of Maryland-Baltimore, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, the University of Maryland, and Towson State University. The Baltimore Museum of Art, the Peale Museum, and the Walters Art Gallery have notable collections of art, and the B & O Railroad Museum houses an impressive collection of railroad memorabilia. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, founded in the 1990s, attempts a 'balancing act' by highlighting the importance, endurance, and vitality of African American history and culture, while emphasizing the destructive effects of slavery and racism. The Morris Mechanic Theater, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera Company, and Fort McHenry (its successful defense against the British in 1814, inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner") are other major attractions. Nearby Pimlico Race Track is the site of the Preakness Stakes, a major event in horse racing. Druid Hill Park contains the city zoo and a natural history museum. The ''[[U.S.S. Constellation]]'', launched in Baltimore in 1797 and today the oldest U.S. warship afloat, is a major tourist attraction in the harbor.
==Parks==
The story of the Patapsco Forest Reserve (later renamed the Patapsco Valley State Park) near Baltimore reveals notable connections between the Progressive-era movements for forest conservation and urban park planning. In 1903, the Patapsco Valley site, although outside the city boundary, was nevertheless identified by the Olmstead Brothers landscape architecture firm as an ideal site to acquire property for future park development. At the same time, the Maryland State Board of Forestry, seeking to establish scientific forestry research, received donated land for this purpose in the Patapsco Valley. Over subsequent decades, a powerful alliance of urban elites, state managers, and city officials assembled thousands of acres along the Patapsco River. The site evolved into a unique hybrid of forest preserve and public park that reflected both its location on the urban fringe and its dual heritage in the conservation and parks movements.<ref>Geoffrey L. Buckley, et al. "The Patapsco Forest Reserve: Establishing a 'City Park' for Baltimore, 1907-1941," ''Historical Geography'' 2006 34: 87-108 </ref>
==History==
===Civil War===
Baltimore was torn by the Civil War. Much of the social and political elite favored the Confederacy--and indeed owned house slaves. However the fierce politics of the 1850s had galvanaized the whiteworkers, most of them German, who opposed slavery. working-class political consciousness to the workplace and deftly reconstructs the breakdown of what he terms urban paternalism over the antebellum decades. Baltimore in the [[Third Party System]] had two-party competitive elections, with powerful bosses, carefully orchestrated political violence, and an emerging working-class consciousness at the polls. The American Party emerged in the mid 1850s to represent Protestants and to counter the Democratic Party, which was increasingly controlled by [[Catholic Irish]]. When Baltimore erupted in violence at the time of Lincoln's inauguration, for example, the pro-Union "Blood Tubs" that took to the streets were veterans of political rioting.<ref>Frank Towers, ''The Urban South and the Coming of the Civil War'' (2004)</ref>
==Religion==
==Religion==
Baltimore has long been a major center of the Catholic Church.
Baltimore has long been a major center of the Catholic Church.