Johns Hopkins’ Sheridan Libraries have
launched the Baltimore Architecture
Project, a collaborative effort that will
bring together online documents relating to
Baltimore’s rich architectural history that
are now scattered among libraries, churches,
hospitals and museums throughout the city
and elsewhere.
Funded by a $40,000 grant from the Gladys
Krieble Delmas Foundation and a $10,000
award from the Middendorf Foundation, the
pilot phase of the project features biographical
information about Baltimore’s most prominent
architects and primary source materials
pertaining to the city’s architecture. Project
partners are Towson University, the Athenaeum
of Philadelphia and the Baltimore
Architecture Foundation.
“This initiative will create an invaluable
resource for architects, art historians and
engineers, as well as for tourists and Baltimoreans
interested in learning more about the
city’s rich artistic and cultural heritage," said
Winston Tabb, dean of university libraries
and director of historic houses at Johns Hopkins.
“Our collaborative efforts will lay the
foundation for creating the single resource on
Baltimore’s architectural history."
The site is located at
www.baltimorebuildings.org.
The Sheridan Libraries are responsible for
surveying local institutions to identify relevant
historical resources. The Athenaeum
of Philadelphia, which developed a similar
resource to document Philadelphia’s architectural
resources, is assisting in the design
of the project Web site. Architectural historians
at Towson University are researching
local architects and developing biographical
sketches.
“The joy of a project like this is that it
inspires people to come forward with materials
that often provide invaluable insights,"
said architectural historian Sandra Tatman,
an associate professor of art history at Towson
University and one of the lead writers.
“Personal correspondence can considerably
enhance otherwise scant information and
has proved to be a rich resource for this
project."
To date, profiles for more than 500 Baltimore
architects and engineers have been
entered into the database, which currently
covers the years 1850 to 1945.
Subsequent phases of the project will
incorporate architectural plans and photographs
and other archival materials from a
variety of institutions, including the Maryland
Historical Society, the University of
Baltimore, the Enoch Pratt Free Library and
Cornell University.