About the Maryland Historical Society
The Maryland Historical Society was founded in 1844. In September 2020 it adopted a new public name, the Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), though the organization, its collections and its web address (mdhs.org) are unchanged. Since 1919 it has been based at the Enoch Pratt House, an 1847 mansion at 610 Park Avenue in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood, which is the core of today's museum-and-library complex.
The best-known object in the building is the original manuscript of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Francis Scott Key's hand. Around it the museum shows art, furniture, costume and artifacts from four centuries of Maryland life; the institution's own figures list roughly 900 pieces of furniture, 231 weapons and more than 8,000 fabrication drawings among its holdings. Current exhibitions include "Passion and Purpose," "Claire / McCardell" (on the Maryland-born fashion designer), "Stitched in Favor," an America 250 digital portal, and "WayFinders," a sensory exhibition for families with children 5 and up. Guided group tours for parties of 20 or fewer are offered Wednesday through Saturday by advance booking.
The Center has published Maryland Historical Magazine since 1906; back issues are digitized in partnership with the Maryland State Archives, and members receive the print edition. A 2023-2028 strategic plan guides the organization's current work.
Collections and Research Services
The H. Furlong Baldwin Library is one of the largest Maryland-focused research collections anywhere: about 60,000 books, 5 million manuscripts, 800,000 photographs, 6,500 prints and broadsides and a million pieces of printed ephemera, plus maps and periodicals. For genealogists and house historians that translates into family papers, business records, church and organization records, Baltimore photographs and maps, and pamphlets that never made it into other libraries. The library catalog (books, periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts and maps) and a growing set of digital collections of paintings, photographs and prints are searchable online, so you can identify call numbers before visiting. The website did not expose library hours or reference fees when we checked, so confirm reading-room days and any remote research service directly with the Center before travelling. Baltimore researchers should also read our guides to old city directories, which Baltimore has in an unusually long run, and finding old photographs of a house or neighborhood.
Planning Your Visit
The museum and library are at 610 Park Avenue, a short walk from the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon. Members are admitted free; general admission prices, current hours and parking arrangements are posted at mdhs.org, and the Center recommends booking group tours ahead. Allow extra time for the museum store. Three miles southeast, Fort McHenry National Monument is the fort whose 1814 bombardment produced the manuscript on display here, and the two make a natural pair for a day in Baltimore.
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