A Guide to Baltimore-Area Repositories of Primary Source Material

Below are listed the major repositories collecting primary source material in the Baltimore area. Additional agencies are listed in Baltimore’s Past: A Directory of Historical Sources (Gen. Ref. F189.B1 B387 1989) which gives a description of the types of materials each agency collects.  Another useful source is The Records of Baltimore’s Private Organizations: A Guide to Archival Resources (Gen. Ref. F189.B1 R45 1981).  This lists the location of records which are not in an official archival repository.

Note: Before visiting any of these repositories, it is best to call and confirm hours or make an appointment with the archivist.

Maryland Historical Society 201 West Monument Street, Baltimore. 410-685-3750.  Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 10 AM-4:30 PM; Closed for lunch 12 PM to 1 PM. Reader’s fee is $6/day.

The Society collects the personal and family papers of Marylanders, as well as records of private organizations and businesses operating in the State.  The geographic scope covers material from throughout the state but is strongest on Baltimore and the surrounding counties.  The Society’s holdings are described in: 

•  Guide to the Manuscript Collection of the Maryland Historical Society (1968).  Gen Ref F 176.M379 1968
•  Guide to the Research Collections of the Maryland Historical Society (1981).  Gen Ref F 176.M3792 1981

Baltimore City Archives 2165 Druid Park Drive, Baltimore.  410-396-0306. Hours by appointment.

This is the official repository for the City’s records documenting the administrative operation of the City from 1729 to the present.  Included are records documenting public health, taxation, elections, education, water supply, law enforcement, and legal and legislative actions.  There is no complete published guide to the archives, but there are unpublished finding aids available at the Archives.  A copy of one, the finding aid to the Mayor and City Council records, is in Special Collections.

• Governing Baltimore: A Guide to the Records of the Mayor and City Council at the Baltimore City Archives (1981).  Copy in the JHU Special Collections reference area.

Baltimore Museum of Industry 1415 Key Highway, Baltimore.  Contact: Carrie Albert, 410-727-4808, x109.  Hours by appointment

The archives collects records documenting the history and development of business and industry in Baltimore and throughout Maryland from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.  The collections include records of businesses as well as unions and range in size from a 1 volume weekly wage record from the Southern Label and Box Company to 1000 feet of records of the Canton Company, a land developer.

Maryland Department, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Branch, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore. 410-396-5468.  Hours: Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday (October through May only): 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Maintained by the main branch of Baltimore’s public library, the Maryland Department contains vertical files, photographs, indexes, maps, and ephemera related to the history of the city and the state.  Outstanding, knowledgeable staff.

Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore. 410-732-6400.  Contact: Jonathan Roscoe, Hours: Tuesday-Thursday by appointment only; $5.00/day reader fee.

The archives collects papers documenting the development of Maryland’s Jewish community in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in Baltimore, but also elsewhere in the state, in Washington, D.C., and in neighboring localities.  Included are the papers of the Friedenwald, Levy  and Benjamin Szold families, JHU economist Jacob Hollander, and records of religious, political, social, educational, business, and charitable organizations.  Finding aids to many of the collections are available in the archives.

Johns Hopkins.  Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives, 5801 Smith Avenue, Suite 235, Baltimore, MD 21209; 410-735-6800.

The Chesney Archives is the official repository for the historic records of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and collects materials that pertain to the history of the Medical Institutions and the careers of its faculty and staff.  Records include those of the hospital and schools of Medicine, Hygiene and Public Health, and Nursing as well as the personal papers of Alfred Blalock, William Welch, Adolf Meyer, William Halsted and Helen Taussig among other research scientists and practitioners.

Johns Hopkins.  Peabody Institute Archives.  1 East Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore. [The shuttle stops one block away.] Contact: Archivist 410-659-8257.  Hours: 10 AM-4:00 PM Monday-Friday. The Archives is the official repository for the historical records of the Peabody Institute and the personal papers of its trustees, faculty, and staff.  It also collects the papers and records of musicians and musical organizations of the Baltimore metropolitan area and maintains an extensive collection of records of performing arts organizations in the greater metropolitan area.

• Guide to the Archives of Peabody Institute of the City of Baltimore (1987).  Copy in the JHU Special Collections reference area.

University of Baltimore Archives, Langsdale Library, 1420 Maryland Avenue, Baltimore.  Contact:Tom Hollowak, Archivist 410-837-4268.  Hours: 8:30 AM-4:30 PM Monday-Friday.

The Archives holds an impressive collection of 19th- and 20th- century records related to public and private institutions in and around Baltimore.  Included are the records of some Baltimore city agencies such as the Board of Estimates and the Planning Department as well as the records of private agencies such as the Citizens Planning & Housing Association and the Christ Evangelical Church.      
         
September 2007