Hey all. I live in Virginia and yesterday the Governor issued an Executive Order to "Stay at Home." I'm retired Navy so I've been trying to do that anyway. I hope most are also heeding that warning as much as possible. Figured I'd share some history to take our minds off of current events for now. Above courtesy of the Maryland Manual. “MARYLAND TERCENTENARY COMMISSION Act 1929, Chapter 470 To consider plans for the appropriate observance by the State of the Tercentenary of the founding of Maryland and to submit a full report with its recommendations to the General Assembly of 1931. Members of the Commission include: Name and address Dr. Joseph S. Ames, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Mathew Page Andrews, 849 Park Avenue, Baltimore’. Rev. Joseph J. Ayd, S. J., Loyola College. Arthur Barneveld Bibbins, 201 Park Avenue, Baltimore. Van Lear Black, Fidelity Building, Baltimore. Hon. Carroll T. Bond, 1125 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore. William H. Buckler, 1 Bardwell Road, Oxford, England. Mrs. W. Cabell Bruce, Buxton. George R. Callis, Jr., Hearst Tower Building, Baltimore. John Ridgely Carter, Morgan & Company, Paris, France. Henry W. Catlin, 5 Gramercy Park, New York. Edward S. Delaplaine, Frederick. Hon. Samuel K. Dennis, Court House, Baltimore. Elliott E. Dent, Equitable Building, Baltimore. Richard M. Duvall, 16 E. Lexington Street, Baltimore. Swepson Earle, 512 Munsey Building, Baltimore Jacob Epstein, American Wholesale Corporation, Baltimore. Dr. Henry M. Fitzhugh, Westminster. Hon. Eli Frank, Court House, Baltimore. Hon. John W. Garrett, South and Redwood Streets, Baltimore. Hon. Phillips Lee Goldsborough, Baltimore Trust Co., Baltimore. John Hays Hammond, 2221 Kalorama Road, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Reuben Ross Holloway, The Greenway, Baltimore. Mrs. J. Spence Howard, 1122 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore. Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, 11 W. Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore. George C. Jenkins, Abell Building, Baltimore. Dr. John H. Latane, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Benjamin Blandy Lee, Victor Building, Kansas City, Mo. M. Hampton Magruder, Upper Marlboro. Rev. James M. Magruder, Annapolis William L. Marbury, Maryland Trust Building, Baltimore. Mrs. Frances H. Markell, Frederick. Mrs. Frederick Irving Mosher, 4202 Penhurst Ave., Baltimore. John J. Nelligan, 9 South Street, Baltimore. Waldo Newcomer, Baltimore St. and Hopkins Place, Baltimore. Herbert Noble, 115 Broadway, New York City. Sidney L. Nyburg, First National Bank Building, Baltimore. Dr. Charles O’Donovan, 5 E. Read Street, Baltimore. Hon. T. Scott Offutt, Towson. Mrs. Frank Onion, 1218 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore. Hon. F. Neal Parke, Westminster. Raymond Patenotre, Inquirer Building, Philadelphia, Penna. Dr. J. Hall Pleasants, 201 Longwood Road, Roland Park, Baltimore. George L. Radcliffe, Fidelity & Deposit Company, Baltimore. Daniel R. Randall, Keyser Building, Baltimore. Mrs. Hester Dorsey Richardson, 2127 N. Charles Street, Baltimore. Miss Mary E. W. Risteau, Sharon. Miss Florence P. Sadtler, 2605 N. Charles Street, Baltimore Mrs. Frank B. Scrivener, 105 E. Lafayette Avenue, Baltimore. Mrs. Edward Shoemaker, 1031 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore. Mark O. Shriver, 607 St. Paul Street, Baltimore Robert S. Shriver, 65 Broad Street, New York. Robert F. Skutch, 419 N. Charles St., Baltimore. DeCourcy W. Thom, Maryland Trust Building, Baltimore. Miss Elizabeth Chew Williams, 108 E. 39th Street, Baltimore. Lawrence P. Williams, Wynne. William Woodward, 11 Nassau Street, New York. This timely contribution to the Tercentenary Celebration of the founding of our Commonwealth is the most important study of the period that has yet appeared and is by far the best work that Mr. Andrews has yet done. It should have a place in every public library and should be patronized by everyone interested in our local history. The work was sympathetically reviewed in the Evening Sun of December 9th.”1 1. The Founding of Maryland, Baltimore. Andrews, Matthew, 1879-1947, The Williams & Wilkins Company. The Tercentennial Celebration. Courtesy of Historic St. Mary’s City. Enjoy. Much more to follow. May take me a week to post all of my history lesson.
This would of taken place in Annapolis harbour ,off the Severn river,and Spa creek. I see that boat parades were big in those days as well holiday season at present. Locals rig their boats with holiday lights and sail the harbour. The entire history here is unbelievable so many things to see....experence,......where Washington himself resigned as the commander of the Contennental Army. And a young nations first treasury was a brick out building with iron gates and strong box. I've always felt blessed being raised here......it truly is the land of not only pleasant living.....but the soil that a lot of history this country was built on.
Your behavior here is that of a bored 3rd grader, nothing to add fine don't post and disrespect others work!
“One of the Charming Old Churches of Southern Maryland. Trinity P. E. Church, St. Mary’s City, Md., was built in 1829, from bricks of the Old State House erected in 1676. The altar, communion rail and lectern were carved from wood of the old mulberry tree under which the Colonists assembled in 1634 to establish the Provincial Government. Courtesy of B & O Magazine, May 1934, p. 10. Some minor confusion has arisen with regard to the commemoration of Maryland’s Tercentenary. It has been due to the fact that Maryland has, in a sense, several ‘birthdays,’ three of which have already been celebrated. But these celebrations have been in the nature of preliminaries; the anniversary of the formal establishment of the Province is the great event that is to be fittingly commemorated this year. . . The Tercentenary commemoration of the main event—the formal establishment of the government of the new Province—might have followed, logically or chronologically, upon March 27; but the Tercentenary Commission reached a unanimous conclusion that it would be better to postpone the date of celebration because of unpropitious weather conditions, especially in a rural community. The celebration was, therefore, set for June, and more recently fixed for June 15-16. On the 15th it is proposed to hold all dedicatory exercises by the different patriotic societies, followed by formal addresses on the morning of the 16th; and a water spectacle and historical pageant in the afternoon. At the time of writing, preliminary steps have been taken towards arranging for pageantry on an extensive scale to be presented at the municipal stadium in the latter part of September. If the plans under contemplation are found to be feasible, the spectacle provided at that time will exceed in dignity, distinction and originality any pageantry yet presented in America; and Baltimore alone, as the metropolis of the State, is able to do this on a scale commensurate with the occasion. Moreover, Baltimore is able to entertain the thousands of ‘exiled’ sons and daughters, who may come back to their native State to renew old ties and help commemorate her 300th birthday. With them we may well expect thousands of visitors, and Maryland will be well justified in a proper effort to capitalize her history, and the city its present position of leadership among her sister municipalities in the soundness of its business administration.”2 2. Baltimore and Ohio Magazine, Maryland’s Three-Hundredth Birthday, Marked by Celebrations of Several Important Events, by Mathew Page Andrews, May 1934, p. 10. “The State of Maryland is celebrating its Tercentenary this year, and the Maryland Yacht Club its silver jubilee, and Governor Albert C. Ritchie, for the State, and Howard W. Jackson, Mayor of Baltimore, have authorized the coordination of spectacular features of the two events into one mammoth water celebration on August 10, 11 and 12. More than 300 men and women have agreed to race their boats in the waters near Baltimore on these dates, starting on Friday morning at 11:00 a. m., and concluding on Sunday evening with a pageant of brilliantly decorated yachts and boats. Merchants and manufacturers along the entire waterfront will decorate their wharves, docks, buildings, etc., with flags and bunting and colored lights. Seaplanes and airplanes will hover overhead by day and night. The United States Army, Navy and Coast Guard will be represented. Foreign governments are expected to participate. The railroads are making arrangements for excursions with special rates within a radius of a thousand miles of Baltimore, and hope in that way to attract a large amount of business to their lines. Employers who are boat enthusiasts themselves, and in close touch with boating activities in their territories, will undoubtedly be interested in bringing this event to the attention of their friends. It may mean a good deal of passenger business for our line, and there is also the possibility of freight hauls in the transportation of boats to and from the scene of the races. Our facilities at tidewater in Baltimore are unequaled for this purpose. Further information may be obtained from J. R. Hayes, city passenger agent, Baltimore.”3 3. Baltimore and Ohio Magazine, Mammoth Water Carnival. Hundreds of Boats will Race in Baltimore Waters in August. May 1934, p. 11. Invitation In Connection With The Maryland Tercentenary. An invitation to ‘the ceremonies incident to the acceptance by The State of Maryland of a gift of a statue 'Freedom of Conscience' Hans Schuler, sculptor’ in Saint Mary's city. Hans Schuler was a notable sculptor of the time and also designed the Maryland commemorative half dollar. Courtesy Stacks Bowers Galleries. “p. 351 – November 13th, 1933.--. . . p. 352. The Maryland Tercentenary Commission has extended to this Society (Maryland Historical Magazine) a cordial invitation to be present on the 22nd of November, at 2:30 P. M.., at the War Memorial to hear the broadcast from Cowes, England and the answer to be returned by Gov. Ritchie, and a word of greeting from President Roosevelt, all in connection with the unveiling at Cowes by the Maryland born Lord Fairfax of the tablet which is being placed in honor of the sailing of the ‘Ark’ and the Dove. . .’ Subsequently to the unveiling, November 22, 1933, of the tablet in the shelter at The Parade, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, with a celebration thereof in Baltimore City, there will be exercises at Blackiston (St. Clement’s) Island on March 25, 1934, to commemorate the first landing on Maryland soil. Trade with the Indians was carried on in the currency of the natives – peag and Roanoke. Peag consisted of small, polished cylinders made out of clam or mussel shells, pierced for stringing. Roanoke consisted of bits of flat shell also pierced for stringing. At the right above is shown a reproduction of an old drawing of the original mulberry tree where now stands the Leonard Calvert monument. The map of St. Mary’s County, prepared by Mr. J. Spence Howard, and here reproduced for the first time, shows sites of historic interest connected with the founding of Maryland. Besides the brief notations appended to the map, the cartographer supplies the following comments: Mulberry Fields was built by Captain William Somerville, who at one time owned Sotterly, Maryland, and Stratford, Virginia. Porto Bello is linked with Mt. Vernon in both history and tradition. St. Inigoes Manor adjoins Cross Manor, which was Captain Cornwallis’ residence in 1650, and is now the oldest house in Maryland. Calvert’s Rest, built about 1665, was the home of William Calvert, the only son of the first Governor. Along the Three Notch Road and the Patuxent River are found De la Brooke, the home of Anne Calvert, only daughter, who married Baker Brooke; Sotterly, the home of Governor Paca and the Briscoe family; Cremona, at Trent Hall; Mattapany, the home of the ‘widow Sewall’, who married Charles, third Lord Baltimore; also Susquehanna, the home of Christopher Rousby and the Carrolls. Within the bounds of St. Mary’s County there are at least one hundred houses dating back two hundred years or more. The majority of these old houses were built on estates beside the ample water courses so distinctive of Southern Maryland. Since modern travel has shifted from ships to automobiles, markers set along the roadside will indicate the location of in relationship to the State highways. For the convenience of visitors, arrangements have been made to widen the roads, prepare new approaches, and adorn those portions of the highway that pass through the site of the first capital of the Province.
The Red Book states that the 1934 Maryland commemorative half dollar was made to resemble the Maryland colonial Lord Baltimore coinage from the mid 1500s. Here are examples of the two coins. The half dollar A Maryland colonial six pence.
I enjoy American history, so I enjoy these threads. Until I read the original post, I didn't realize part of the tercentenary involved erecting a memorial on the Isle of Wight
Historical Reflection: Maryland’s Tercentenary Celebration Published on Jun 8, 2015. During the 1930’s, St. Mary’s Junior College housed around 80 students during the academic year, ensuring that it would be a tight-knit albeit sparse community tucked away from the larger urban areas of Maryland. However, there has been the rare instance when St. Mary’s comes to center stage and the world seems to be nowhere else but on the banks of the St. Mary’s River. Such was the case on the weekend of June 14th in 1934 when a reported 100,000 people converged on the ruins of St. Mary’s City to celebrate the tercentenary of Maryland’s founding. Video courtesy of Historic St. Mary’s City. Published on Sep 7, 2015, State of the College Address, Sept. 4, 2015. From Maryland State Archives: The Maryland Tercentenary Commission was appointed by the governor in 1929 (Chapter 470, Acts of 1929) to consider plans for the appropriate observance by the state of the tercentenary of the founding of Maryland. A temporary committee of representative citizens had been appointed in 1927 to formulate plans for the celebration and the organization of a commission which would undertake the activities. Following the submission of its report and recommendations to the General Assembly in 1931, the Maryland Tercentenary Commission was authorized to direct the commemoration (Chapter 487, Acts of 1931). The celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the province of Maryland in 1933-1934 under the direction of the Maryland Tercentenary Commission included the erection of a bronzed tablet at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, England to mark the place from which the Ark and Dove embarked for Maryland in 1633; the erection of a memorial on St. Clement's Island to mark where the original settlers landed; the procurement of the old state house lot at St. Mary's City; the erection of a memorial at St. Mary's City commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Maryland; the establishment of a permanent commission to have custody for the memorial and park at St. Mary's City and St. Clement's Island called the Maryland Tercentenary Memorial Commission; and the erection of a memorial hall of records in Annapolis. The Maryland Tercentenary Commission was disbanded in 1935.”4 4. Maryland Historical Magazine, published under the authority of The Maryland Historical Society. Volume XXVIII, Baltimore, 1933. Photo taken in 1933 showing Simpson Charles Wadham as chairman of the Cowes Urban District council looking at a plaque erected on Cowes Parade commemorating 300 years since the sailing of the Ark & the Dove from Cowes to Maryland in the USA. The lady with him is Miss Magruder a direct descendant of John Biscoe who was an original settler. Photo courtesy of Barry Groves. 1933. Baltimore Sun, Maryland Day. A plaque commemorating the sailing of the Dove and the Ark from Cowes, England, carrying original colonists to what is now the state of Maryland, was unveiled by Lord Fairfax in Cowes on November 30, 1933. Inscription Reads: On the 22nd day of November AD 1633 Leonard Calvert brother of Cecil Calvert, Baron of Baltimore, with his co-adventurers, set sail from this port in the Ark and the Dove to establish in America the Palatinate of Maryland, under a charter granted by the King of England, which conferred upon the people of Maryland all the Rights of Englishmen, to be theirs in perpetuity - Rights which the people of Maryland have ever cherished as their greatest, most valued heritage. Upon the site, granted by the Cowes Urban District Council to the Society of the Ark and the Dove this tablet is erected, November 22, 1933.
Courtesy Historic St. Mary’s City (MD), h s m c d i g s history.org. Commemorative Cross and Rebuilt Blackistone Lighthouse, on Blackistone Island (St. Clement’s Island State Park), September 2009. Courtesy of Wikipedia. “Baltimore, Md., Aug. 11 [1934] — The National Sweepstakes trophy, American speedboat classic prize, hangs in the balance tonight, as two boats fought their way into a deadlock in the first two heats of the race, featuring the second day’s events of the Maryland Yacht Club’s tercentenary regatta and silver jubilee, today. They are the Betty V, New Jersey racer, radically constructed 29-foot one-step hydroplane, and Pep III, John Bramble’s fast Baltimore craft. The feud will reach a climax tomorrow when the third and final heat will be held as the closing day’s feature. Races on the closing day’s program start tomorrow morning, and continue all day. Albert Schwarzler’s Riptide, New York hydroplane, moved a notch closer to the National championship in the 225 cubic inch hydroplane class in today’s second heat although that event was won by Emancipator II, fast hydroplane from Atlantic city, belonging to S. Mortimer Auerbach, of Atlantic city. Several Upsets Upsets, thrills and mishaps of every type marked the second day’s racing today, as two more speed boats upset several outboard drivers joined the ‘hell-drivers’ and a series of sensations marked the racing. Betty V was driven by Melvin Crooks, of Montclair, N.J. and is modeled along the lines of Miss England III. She ran beautifully today in the first heat of the National sweepstakes, to come from behind on the last quarter mile to win the first heat. She was built and designed by Walter Buskee, of Dover, N.J., and is powered with a big Packard 12-cylinder motor. She was on her way to a conquest in the second heat, holding a fair lead, when she broke down on the second lap of the 15-mile battle, Pep III racing by and covering laps, while Crooks coaxed her around the rest of the 15 mile heat to finish. At the end of the day Betty V is deadlocked with Pep III at 700 points, each having won one heat and finished second in the other. Auerbach’s conquest in the national hydroplane championship race for the 225 cubic inch class was unexpected but he has only an outside chance to win the crown against the New York craft Riptide. However, the victory is a plume in the cap of the Atlantic City sportsman, S. Mortimer Auerbach, who had the wheel of the Emancipator II in the race. The craft recently had alterations made to her stern to make her eligible for the 225 cubic inch class. Emancipator III Upsets Just preceding the championship race Auerbach had the wheel of his new boat Emancipator III, which recently won the national championship in the 125 cubic inch class. While holding a fair lead in that event the craft suddenly upset after hitting a log, throwing Auerbach and his mechanic, Al Ludwig, into the churned upwaters of the Patapsco River. It was wonderful to see him come back in the next race at the wheel of his other boat, Emancipator II, and drive it to a victory. However, Auerbach stands third on points for the crown, Riptide having a big lead as the result of yesterday’s opening head victory with 700 points, against 525 for Dr. Cecil H. Bagley’s Wilmer III, of Baltimore, standing second. Emancipator II had 400 points, not having started in the first heat yesterday. As a result of Emancipator’s upset, the 125 hydroplane laurels went to the Guppy, owned by Roy H. Dale, of Washington, which was running second to Auerbach, and won the second heat when the Atlantic City craft swamped. A thrilling rescue was tagged right under the stern of the cutter Apache, big committee boat, when the runabout Miss Long Point, of Baltimore, driven by Walter Hasslinger, with Miss Laura Sheehan as mechanic, upset near the finish of the Class E-F-G race, and boats rushed from all directions to help the struggling pair from the water. Miss Codd’s Leg Cut Miss Marylang Codd, 19 years old, of Towson, Md., outboard driver, suffered a badly cut leg when her outboard Dixie Kid upset this morning on substituted Spring Garden course, and she was brought ashore on a stretcher. She was rushed to a hospital, passing the yacht club just as Mayor Howard [text missing]. C. Mulford Scull, of Ventnor won first money in Class C outboards on time, with his outboard Shooting Star V, when he arrived too late for the Class A race. The outboard races were all shifted up to the Spring Garden course where smoother water conditions prevailed. Scull just nose out Fred Jacoby, of North Bergen, NJ, for the money. C.H. Chart Johnson, of Cranberry Lake, NJ, winner of the Albany to New York marathon, was winner in the Class C amateurs on points beating out Joel Thorne. Points given, Johnson took the first heat and Thorn, the second. Molly Tyson Loses Ray Bowers, of Seabright NJ, won the midget race from Miss Molly Tyson of Philadelphia and youthful Byron Shannon of Audubon, in a close battle. Bob Myer, of Chicago, won the Class A first money, and Howard Shaxeshoff, of White Plains NY, the first in the amateurs for A. Joe Don, of Wilmington, driven by Joe Monigle won the runabouts in Clas A-B-C-D under a combined score of 800 points. Blue Pigeon, of Baltimore, driven by Richard [text missing]. National Sweepstakes trophy race, first heat 15 miles—Won by Betty V., Melvin Crooks, Montclair, N.J.; second, Pep III, John Bramble, Baltimore; third, Arctic Tern, Ernie Chase, Baltimore. Time, 15:46:3/5, second time, 15:45. National Championships 225 cubic inch hydroplane class, second heat 10 miles—Won by Emancipator II, Gene Apel, Atlantic City; second Riptide, A.J. Schwarzler of New York; third, Wilmer III, Dr. Cecil B. Barier, Baltimore. Time, 14:25 2/5, second time,13:20 2/5; third, 13:33 4/5.”5 5. Hydroplane History Home Page. 1934 National Sweepstakes Trophy Patapsco River, Baltimore, Maryland, August 12, 1934. Betty V’s Sensational Win Brings Speedboat Trophy Downpour Drenches Drivers, Spectators, But No Upsets Mar Regatta's End Riptide, Beaten by Emancipator II, Lands Hydroplane Title; Arctic Tern Victor. Leslie Field, 2005. This is a one-of-a-kind souvenir of Maryland! It celebrates Maryland's 300th birthday in 1934 and it's a trophy from one of the Chesapeake Bay's traditional yacht races. It also celebrates the Silver Anniversary of the Maryland Yacht Club. This race took the sailors from Betterton on Maryland's Eastern Shore, across the bay and then up the Patapsco River to Fort Carroll Island at the entrance to Baltimore's Harbour. Courtesy of Pinterest.
A group of the "President's Trees.” Maryland Tercentenary Memorial - Washington, D.C. in Community Commemoration. A bronze plaque on a granite boulder provides information about this gift from the Maryland State Daughters of American Revolution in 1934. The President's Trees are located on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol between Louisiana Avenue NE and Delaware Avenue NE. Courtesy of Waymark, iconions. Ticket to the Baltimore Stadium for the Tercentenary Celebration. Courtesy LOC. “Historic St. Mary’s City The Tercentennial Celebration Celebrating our Past Celebrations: The 1934 ‘Pageant’ at St. Mary’s City. When Maryland celebrated the three hundredth anniversary in 1934, it was not the first celebration of the past at St. Mary’s City. The Georgetown University Philodomic Society ventured to St. Mary’s in 1852, the Calvert monument was erected in 1890, and a celebration of the 275th anniversary was held in 1909. The Tercentennial Commission The Tercentennial Commission was established in 1927 by Governor Ritchie. Illustrious members included: William Marbury, Mathew Page Andrews, Swepson Earle, and R. Bennett Darnall.
Both above: Lord Calvert Monument. Official Maryland Tercentenary Medal. Designed by Hans Schuler. Medallic Art Company.
Thanks for another informative historical thread, Lee. It dovetails nicely with John Milton's post about Maryland coinage.
