A Closer Look
A blog post by Collections Manager Joanna Church. To read more posts by Joanna click HERE.
Our collections database – which I love, don’t get me wrong – is set up to present the user with a main screen for each catalog record, containing an overview and thumbnail image of the particular object, photo, book, or archival item. The image can be enlarged somewhat, but in either case it mostly serves as a quick reference during a search, providing enough of a visual that the user (i.e., me) can decide if it’s worth a closer look. Frequently, pulling up the larger image file is quite rewarding.
Gift of Earl Pruce. JMM 1985.90.21
For example, here is a street view that caught my eye recently as I scrolled past: the 1910s block of Madison Avenue, Baltimore, in December of 1912. It is cataloged in our database as a photo of the Clover Club (previously known as the Concordia Club), occupying the middle of the block. In the small version, you can just barely make out that there are a few figures in the image. I decided to zoom in on the higher-resolution file, and voila! More than a static street scene, the photo shows several people at work.
At the far left, there’s a woman standing on a ladder washing the windows of No. 1910. Either she didn’t know the photo was being taken, or she didn’t care; she’s just going about her business.
To her right is the Carroll Apartments, as identified by a small sign next to the door; a uniformed doorman, or someone else in an official capacity (he has keys hanging from his belt), is standing on the stoop, looking toward the photographer. It’s not clear if he’s deliberately posing, or if he was just pausing on his way to get some work done.
Next is a double-front building, with a central stoop. This is the Clover Club, handily identified with clovers in the window coverings (perhaps crochet lace curtains). There might be a woman in a white dress or uniform (perhaps a maid?) turning away in the open doorway…? What do you think?
The Clover Club was a Jewish businessmen’s social club, organized in 1896 as the successor to the Concordia Club. It moved around a bit, but by the early 1900s it was located at the pictured address, 1914-1916 Madison Avenue; in 1920 the club moved to 2249 Eutaw Place. Later, the Madison Avenue building (and adjacent sites) were owned by Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, and later still it served as the home of the Young Woman’s Christian Association. Some of the block has been torn down, but a quick check of Google maps shows the Clover Club’s doorway and stoop still attached to the front of what is now 1912 Madison Avenue.
