Newsand Notes i = a E EE z PrinceGeorge's CountY J g E HistoricalSocietY ! E Ed\flE 3 rr;. I lJ' January/February2000 Our 48e Year XXVItr Number I FAMILY OF FREDERICKS. DEMARRDEEDS LIBRARY TO SOCIETY Following probate,Louise Tatspaugh, longtimeHistorical Societymember and Fred's sister, officially deededthe FrederickS. DeMan Library to the Historical Society. Dated November 1999,and coincidingwith the approvalby the Board of the library's collectionmanagement policy, this generousgift was gratefully acceptedby the Board. The Library Committee, composedof Historian Susan Pearl, Board Secretaryand life-long County residentSarah Bourne and Librarian Sharon Howe Sweeting, hasworked steadilysince Fred's untimely death. Diane Stultz, a genealogicalresearch specialist, has been added to the Committee. Dusty Rhoads and Alan Virta haveprovided adviceon specificcollecting interests of Fred's. The Committee has, however, deviatedfrom Fred's plansby beginningto catalogue the collectioninto an online databasecalled InMagrc. Eventually,the vertical and biographical files, photographs,special and ephemeralmaterials will be incorporatedinto this databasewhich will be searchableon all fields. The library also hasan email address,a fa,r machine,a new answeringmachine and photocopier. Spacecontinues to be a premium but the Committee is slowly sifting through the collectionsto refine and focus them. Collection guidelinesare outlinedlater in this issue. We welcomeyour visit to assessour progress. A twentieth-century Gentleman's library 'z)a completedbefore considerationfor Call for Nominations an award. 6. The recipientshould be living at the time St. George'sDay Awards 2000 of the nomination. PrinceGeorge's County Historical Society 7. Projectsthat are solelythe productof a establishedthe St. George'sDay Arvardsin person'semployment or profession 1974to honor thosepersons or may be consideredunder certain organrzationsthat have made a differencein circumstancesif the projectreflects PrinceGeorge's County. Contributions additionalpersonal involvement. rangefrom c.elebrationsof our rich history, salvation and restorationof historic sitesand 8 The numberof awardseach year should buildings,production of written works that be limitedto enhancethe prestige. report our historyand educateourselves and An averageof seven/eighthave been our children,and volunteerefforts that presentedover the years. enhancecommunities and the senseof history the Societysupports and enc.ourages. 9. The awardswill be determinedby u selectioncommittee composed of the We invite our membersto suggest Board of Directorsplus three other nominationswhich reflect a broad spectrum Societymembers selected by the of individualand orsanizationalactivitv. president. Nominations,hourO1e forwarO"O to tt * l0 The awardswill be presentedat the Societyat 301-464-0590by February 18th annualSt. George'sDay dinnerin April The following criteria shouldapply: l. The recipientneed not be a c.ounty To remind, lastyears winners were: resident,nor a county-based Catherine W.AIIen; TomAmlie and Pewry organization. Hayas; EugeneMeyer; Sam and Pal Parker; Anthony Pitch; Ruth Prendsble; JamesM. 2. The activityhonored must pertainto Wo{fe; GethsemaneUnited lv{ethodist PrinceGeorge's County. Church and The Quander Family Society, Inc. 3. A previouslyhonored individual or may be consideredfor organization SinceApril 23, 2000,is EasterSunday, the at the discretionof anotheractivity, HistoricalSociety Board hastentatively committee. the selection scheduledour celebrationfor April 30. 4. The activity honoredshould reflect involvementover a periodof time. 5. Specificprojects should be substantially FAREWELL TO HISTORTAN SHIRLEY BALTZ by HistorianSusanPearl One of the HistoricalSociety's most faithful home in Bowie looked out on the terraced and longstandingmembers has left Prince groundsof the Belair Mansion). I was lucky George'sCounty. Shirley Baltz, who lived enoughto follow along behindher as she in Bowie from 1963till the end of 1999, delvedinto the complexdocumentary history movedjust beforeChristmas to New Jersey, of the Ogle and Taskerfamilies, and the whereshe will be closerto her three establishmentof the Belair plantation. daughtersand their families. Although During the Bicentennialof the Declarationof Shirleylived in Bowie for thirty-sixyears, Independence>we worked togetheron a shehad been a residentof PrinceGeorge's seriesof archaeologicalinvestigations at County sincebefore the birth of the County Belair, and in 1978(partly as a result of that HistoricalSocietv in 1952 project) we were both hired by the Maryland-National Capital Park and "When I first movedto PrinceGeorge's PlanningCommission to researchand report Countyin the early 1970swith my husband on the various historic propertiesowned by and smallchildren, not quite readyto go the M-NCPPC.'" back to full-time work, I was searchingfor a way to usemy educationand experiencein "I have stayedwith the M-NCPPC, but history and archaeologyon a volunteer,part- Shirley left to complete her Chronicle of time basis. Shirleywas one of the first Belair, an exhaustivehistory of the Belair peoplethat I met, and shesoon put me to plantation,published in 1984. At aboutthe work. I very quickly found out that shewas sametime, Shirleywas appointedby a an historiqn's historian, i.e., sherigorously grateful city as the official Bowie City checkedevery availablesource before she Historian. Shecontinued working tirelessly put anythinginto writing - lucky for me! with a newly establishedFriends of the becauseshe introduced me to a wealthof Belair Estate,helping to raisemoney for documentarysources. She showed me the what amountedto a nearly ten-year-long way aroundthe Maryland Hall of Records, major (and highly successful)restoration of thenlocated on the campusof St. John's the Belair Mansion. In her sparetime she Collegein Annapolis,and the archival pouredthrough every nineteenth-century treasuresthen storedat the Maryland PrinceGeorge's County (and other) Historical Societyin Baltimore. I remember newspaperthat shecould find, collecting many a trip togetherto Annapolisand marriageand death notices of Prince Baltimore,as well asto the Library of Georgians. Her Prince George's Countlt, Congress,and more than one near-hilarious Maryland, Marriages and Deaths in ride home after the excitingdiscovery of Nineteenth Century Newspaperswas someobscure historical fact!" publishedin 1995;it is an essentialresource for any County research.During all of these "Shirley wasjust then completingher history years, Shirley has generouslyshared her of Annapolis (Quays of the City, Annapolis, knowledge,presenting lectures and slide- 1975) and was beginningto put togetherthe tectureson a wide rangeof historical history of Belair (her family subjectsto any orgamzationthat asked, helpingstudents, and ad.,'isingother historicalor preservation-orientedqroups. WINTER READING Sheserved for yearsas Chair of the Bowie HeritageCommittee which advisesthe City Continuingwith our themesof libraries, Councilon matters concerninghistoric booksand research, we recommendthe properties, and alsoas chairof Prince followingbook: George'sHeritage, the non-profithistoric preservationorganization grew that out of THE B0OK 0N THE I\0OKSHELF by the County Committeefor the Maryland HenryPetroski, New York. Alfred A. HistoricalTrust. Shirley'swork over the Knopf, 1999. yearshas been recognized and appreciated by our Society,and shehas been the My favoritecourse in graduateschool, recipient of two St. George'sDay awards." taughtby FrancisWitty at the Catholic Universityof Arnerica,was Hi.storyof rhe "So now Shirleyhas left PrinceGeorge's Rook. Needlessto sayI agreewith the New County,after carefullysorting and donating York TimesBook Review(September 26, her voluminous files to the appropriate 1999)which states." Henry Petroski,who (including repository our Societylibrary) for hasan eyefor the commonthings that eachof the subjectsthat shesc carefully surroundus andthat we hardlynotice (he is researched.Much of her legacy,therefore, is the authorof an exhaustivehistory of the easilyaccessible to us at the Hall of Records pencil),has decided to trackthe birth, or at Belair or Marietta,but her patient evolution,triumphs and failures not of the willingnessand readysmile will be greatly book but of the spacethat keepsit - of its missed.I've alreadycalled her with a few habitat,so to speak. For anyoueinterested questions. quickly answered! . and in the craft of reading,Petroski's most recent whenI talkedto her last week, shewas hard explorationis a compulsivenecessity." at work on the upcomingexpanded-and improved secondedition of the Chronicle of If you arenot alreadyhooked, the book " Belair. jacketcontinues: "Petroski takes us into the pre-Gutenbergworld, wherebooks were so "Thanks so much, Shirley,for your many scarcethey were chainedto lecternsfor your contributions.! We look forward to security.He explainshow the printingpress visits!" not only changedthe way bookswere made and shelved,but alsoinc,reased their Signed: Susan Pearl availabilityand transformed book readers into book ownersand collectors. He shows us that for a time bookswere shelvedwith Editor's Note'. "Lester and I also owe their spinesin, andit r,vasnot until afterthe ShirleyBaltz a debt of gratitude. Shewas arrivalof the modernbookcase that the the chairof PrinceGeorge's Heritage when spinesfaced zril." we first joined and shetaught us to love and respectthe historyof PrinceGeorge's Recommendedby: Librarian Sweeting. Countyby her