Baltimore History Evenings

Who has Coal Fever? 

The Invisible Violence of the Coal Supply Chain  from Extraction to Export, 1970s & 1980s 

Presented by Nicole Fabricant 

The Port of Baltimore has long been a major exporter of coal, linking the mines of West Virginia to nations across  Europe. As the city built its coal export infrastructure in South Baltimore, environmental degradation followed. How did this impact the residents, and how did they fight back? 

Nicole Fabricant, professor of anthropology at Towson University, is author of Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and  the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore.

“Losing my Home is Like a Death to Me:” 

A Collective Narrative  Investigation into the Slow Violence of Urban Renewal

Presented by Nicole King and Sonia Eaddy

The long-stalled redevelopment of the Poppleton neighborhood presents a case study of the harms of urban renewal and the resistance of residents. It also shows how institutions of higher education and communities can work together for change, and how public history and historic preservation can be used in the fight against displacement. 

Nicole King is associate professor of American Studies and co-directs the Orser Center for Public Humanities at UMBC.  Sonia Eaddy, a fourth-generation Poppleton resident, is president of the Poppleton NOW! neighborhood association.

The Wilkens Curled Hair Factory: 

The  Rise and Fall of a Major Baltimore Industry

Presented by Jillian Storms, AIA, and Jerome Gray, AIA

In the 1840s, German-born entrepreneur William Wilkens opened a factory that used animal hair to make products ranging from mattress stuffing to wigs. Employing over 1,000 workers in its heyday, the factory was key to building up southwest Baltimore.

Using rich visual sources, this talk will tell the story of the man, the factory, and the neighborhood. 

Architects Jillian Storms and Jerome Gray are former co-chairs of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation’s Dead Architects Society. 

Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win: 

The Black Panthers and Networks of  Political Organizing in Baltimore

Presented by Kristian Whitehead and Gerardo Fontes

This presentation on the Baltimore chapter of the Black Panther Party highlights the influence of Maoism on the chapter’s community service and political activities. It also explores the Panthers’ community and  political connections as seen through the group’s relationship with Rev. Chester Wickwire, chaplain emeritus of Johns Hopkins University and prominent civil rights advocate. 

Kristian Whitehead is a senior history major at Morgan State University minoring in African American and African Diaspora. Gerardo Fontes is a senior at Johns Hopkins University majoring in international studies, political science, and history. 

“The Thing has not Become Known:” 

The Desegregation of Hospitals in  Baltimore 

Presented by Alicia Puglionesi

This talk provides an overview of hospital segregation in Baltimore and describes the process of desegregation initiated  by Black physicians and community leaders starting in 1945. Focusing on Johns Hopkins Hospital as an example, it  examines how activists navigated both the conservative norms of the medical profession and the special position of  hospitals as sites of care. 

Alicia Puglionesi is a lecturer in Medicine, Science, and the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. Her books Common  Phantoms and In Whose Ruins deal with relationships between spiritual belief and scientific knowledge.

“I Ask Mercy at Your Hands:” 

Henry Alfred Brown, Third-Degree Torture, and Black Grassroots Responses 

to Judicial Inequality in 1920s Baltimore 

Presented by Michael Casiano 

In 1921, Black sailor Henry Alfred Brown was charged with murdering a white nurse in Annapolis. He held steadfast to his innocence until, he alleged, a brutal interrogation by two Baltimore police detectives elicited a confession. This talk  investigates one man’s experiences to illuminate structural realities regarding racialized police brutality and the biases  of Baltimore’s legal system. 

Mike Casiano, assistant professor in American Studies at UMBC, is author of Let Us Alone: The Origins of Baltimore’s  Police State, set for release in Fall 2025.