Where history lives

All of those books ? and O?Neill?s steel-trap memory ? help curious and investigative minds research and uncover Maryland history.

“You never know what you?ll find,” said O?Neill, senior reference librarian, who has combed Baltimore and Maryland history at the Historical Society for almost 28 years. “That?s the whole adventure of it.”

About 12,000 researchers enlist O?Neill and the library staff each year to track down information on people who lived, buildings that stood and businesses that operated throughout the state. More than 75 percent of the requests are made by non-Marylanders by phone, e-mail or letters.

“It?s amazing the calls you get and where they come from,” said Anne Garside, the Historical Society?s communications director.

On a recent sunny morning, O?Neill sat at a small, wooden desk in a closetlike room with five card catalogs lining the walls. O?Neill, wearing glasses, a brown polo shirt and black slacks, flipped open a laptop and began his search.

“Colleen Aycock from Albuquerque, New Mexico,” O?Neill said after a few seconds. “She?s writing a book about boxing in Baltimore and asked us some questions about Joe Gans.”

Gans, born in Baltimore in 1874, won 131 boxing matches during his 18-year career and is considered one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time. He died at age 35 from tuberculosis.

As she worked on a chapter about Gans? Baltimore fights, Aycock asked for information and photos from the Historical Society about the locations of Gans? Charm City matches, including the Front Street Theater.

O?Neill?s research yielded no images of the Front Street Theater, but he did relay the information that the theater experienced a major fire in 1895 with a number of fatalities. The theater re-opened the following year under new management but was ultimately demolished in 1904.

In a January e-mail to Aycock, O?Neill wrote Aycock?s questions were passed on to him by another library archivist, “on the grounds that I have spent so much time researching 19th-century Baltimore that I have been made an honorary resident of the era.”

O?Neill?s colleagues call him “an institution” and “a walking encyclopedia of Baltimore history,” to which he shrugs and laughs.

“That?s because I?ve been doing it for 28 years,” O?Neill said, smiling. “Longevity is a great trait in this field.”

In the ?belly of the beast?

The Historical Society, founded in 1844 and located in Baltimore, is Maryland?s oldest cultural institution, housing the most extensive collection of objects and artifacts in the state.

The organization?s library collection includes more than 7 million items, including 4 million manuscripts, 1.25 million pieces of printed ephemera (menus, concert posters, political fliers, etc.) and 450,000 photographs.

The museum collection totals more than 350,000 items, including the original copy of “The Star Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key in Baltimore in 1814.

“Our collection is Maryland-centric,” said David Angerhofer, an archivist at the Historical Society for the past four years.

Angerhofer and Joe Tropea, media archivist, oversee the Historical Society?s special collections materials, which are kept in six main storage areas throughout the museum.

In the building?s basement, or “the belly of the beast,” as Angerhofer called it, an “enormous amount” of print materials, books, maps, lithographs and broadsides are preserved.

“The first time I walked down here, I was on the verge of tears,” Angerhofer said.

Standing in the middle of “the belly,” Angerhofer stood next to a tall set of 22 thin drawers designed to hold print materials. He knelt down and pulled a lower drawer open.

“I?ll just open this up randomly,” Angerhofer says, taking an aged document from the drawer, “and we have the Maryland printing of the Declaration of Independence, which was done by Mary Katherine Goddard in 1777.”

In a room where thousands of photographs are stored, Tropea slips a thin white glove on his right hand to handle the pictures.

“Always wear gloves with the photographs,” Tropea says, pulling a photo of the Baltimore Union Stock Yards from the 1940s.

Angerhofer and Tropea, like O?Neill, spend their days at the Historical Society logging items and print materials and answering requests from researchers. They say no two days are alike, because no two requests are alike.

“I had this vision of what the Maryland Historical Society was, and I couldn?t have been more wrong,” Angerhofer said. “The collection is just so rich and vast here.”

Said Tropea, “Most people come in and are blown away by what they find.”

The attendance challenge

For all of its collections, programs and exhibitions, the Historical Society is always looking for more people to pass through its doors.

“Our prime goal is to increase attendance,” said Robert Rogers, the Historical Society?s director. “We serve in excess of 100,000 individuals a year, but we would like to see much greater attendance.”

Rogers concedes “many Marylanders don?t have a thorough understanding of our collections or the many resources the Maryland Historical Society provides.”

The challenge to raise attendance numbers is ever present, especially as the Historical Society has limited advertising funds.

Part of the solution could be eliminating admission fees, Rogers said. The Historical Society is seeking government and corporate underwriting to eventually make admissions free.

Admissions, which run $3 or $4 and are free for children under 12, account for a small portion of the Historical Society?s income.

The organization?s annual budget is a little more than $4.1 million, with operating funds coming from its endowment, grants, donations and major gifts from private donors, Rogers said. Annual giving accounts for about 18 percent of the Historical Society?s operating budget. Additional income is generated from facility rentals and special events.

Rogers thinks free admission could boost attendance, getting people in the facility that first time. When they?ve seen what the museum has to offer, people generally make return visits.

“Many individuals are continually surprised by our holdings ? even those closest to us,” Rogers said. “Generally speaking, we have success in engaging people and ?getting them hooked on the Maryland Historical Society? when they come through the door.”

The Historical Society is counting on three exhibitions launching this spring to help increase attendance, as well. The Mason-Dixon map exhibition opens March 25, the new maritime exhibition opens April 9, and The Voss Family, Artists of American Sporting Life exhibition opens April 11.

“We?re getting more out from the collections, with different areas of interest, and this should appeal to all kinds of audiences,” Rogers said.

While the Historical Society might be low on advertising dollars and attendance figures, there?s no shortage of enthusiasm in its staff.

“Passion with the staff, board and volunteers stands out foremost with the institution,” Rogers said. “The staff is always discovering something new, and that keeps them excited.”

A place of discovery

When uncovering Maryland history, O?Neill asks first-time researchers to begin at some type of starting point ? a name, date or location.

“Every story is different, and some people know nothing,” O?Neill said. “When researching your family, it helps if you know what county they?re from.”

With a starting point, O?Neill pages through any of the library?s thousands of books on family histories and local histories. He doesn?t trust the Internet as much as others.

“More and more people are convinced everything is on the Internet, but at this point, it isn?t,” O?Neill said. “I tell people to bring as much as they have. The more you have, the more you?re going to find.”

Lynn Hebden, a 76-year-old lifelong Baltimore resident, began researching her family history at the Historical Society more than 10 years ago.

“It saved me from total boredom when I retired,” Hebden said. “Many people don?t know how much information is out there.”

With O?Neill?s help, Hebden traced her family back to the early 1800s, when her ancestor, William Hebden, immigrated to America from England. They learned William Hebden was married in 1822, but they couldn?t pinpoint when he immigrated.

“He must have snuck into the country,” Hebden said, laughing. “We can?t find when he arrived.”

Hebden filled in her family tree, learning who everyone was, what he or she did and where he or she lived. It?s been an ongoing process she continues to enjoy with the Historical Society?s help, she said.

“It takes an enormous amount of patience, and you have so many clues,” Hebden said. “It?s that one little thing that opens doors for you.”

One little thing ? discovered in one large, engaging place.

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