On July 19th, for the first time ever (at least as long as I’ve been here), we invaded Annapolis. (With eight interns it can’t be considered anything less than an invasion.) Our goal was to see the Maryland State Archives. But we ended up seeing much more. Emily Oland Squires, Director of Research and Student Outreach at the archives, invited us to join the MSA interns on their annual tour of the State House and Government House. The tours of both buildings were conducted by Sasha Lourie and Chris Kintzel of the Maryland Commission on Artistic Property. The JMM interns had an early start, and some significant walking in the middle of a heat wave (sorry interns!) but as the good interns they are, each one got something out of the experience.
Since I am not native to Maryland (or even to the East Coast) I learned a bit of Maryland history on our trip to Annapolis. I liked our almost chronological tour through the State House the best. It’s a beautiful building and the renovations will make it even better.
The state of the Old Senate Chamber (where George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army) reminded me of “The Synagogue Speaks.” Like the JMM, they found layers of paint and now they are in the process of analyzing them. Their historical investigations are very similar to the process that I hear the JMM went through to understand the history of the Lloyd Street Synagogue. I found it so fascinating that I started looking through the 43 pages of recommendations for the restoration! http:///www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdstatehouse/pdf/final_report_all.pdf ~Rachael
My favorite part was seeing the work that is being done in the State House to bring a cohesiveness to their exhibits. As a working government building, a historic building, and an educational facility, the staff working on the project have a lot of unique challenges to overcome. Even though they are only in the first stages of construction, I enjoyed hearing about the plans they have to make the building even more usable in all three of its jobs. ~Sara