Bringing History To You!
Check out the HA Blog, where the staff at Historic Annapolis offers you behind-the-scenes peeks, in-depth historical information, and highlights from our programs and people.
Coming Soon: A Theater Near You
Several months ago, I wrote about actress Nancy Hallam (“In Praise of Artistic Genius,” September 10, 2020) and the rundown playhouse (“A Dramatic Scheme,” October 8, 2020) in which she […]
Good Times And Bad
The Maryland Gazette provides an invaluable window into what Annapolis was like 250 years ago. News articles and public letters tell us what people learned, thought, worried, and argued about […]
Cellar Secrets
This blog was originally posted on the Historic Annapolis website in March 2018. Between January and March 2018, the cellar of the James Brice House revealed new secrets brought to […]
A Place In Our Paper
My last blog included a piece by John Clapham printed in the May 2, 1771 Maryland Gazette. In it, the son-in-law of Annapolis printer Anne Catharine Green explained his understanding […]
The Freedom And Impartiality Of Your Press
This past Monday was World Press Freedom Day, and the theme “Information as a Public Good” was just as relevant 250 years ago as it is today. Like her husband […]
James Brice House Restoration Updates: Spring 2021
More Trial and Error April 2021 The paint conservators continue their tests to learn the best removal method for the wall plaster and paint – this time on the dining […]
A Ledger For The Ages
This blog was originally posted on the Historic Annapolis website in January 2018. James Brice kept an account book during the years (1767-1774) that he built the grand Georgian mansion […]
Turning Tables
Two hundred fifty years ago, Joshua Johnson was about to embark on a bold commercial venture. The Annapolis merchant placed an ad in the Maryland Gazette to inform his customers […]
A Garden In Bloom
The William Paca Garden is a such special place in the springtime. We are pleased to welcome visitors back to the Garden as spring brings riots of color to our […]
Rumors Of War
England and France engaged in military conflict with one another for 73 of the 126 years between 1689 and 1815, or almost 60% of the period. If they weren’t actively […]
The Propriety Of A Private Inspection
In the five months since Maryland’s official tobacco inspection system stopped functioning because of a political dispute between Governor Robert Eden and the lower house of the General Assembly, colonial […]
The Course of Human Affairs
I’ve commented before about the innate delays in 18th-century reporting. Because the latest news could travel only as fast as a horse could run or a ship could sail, it […]