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HistoricAnnapolis
Jun 24, 20224 min read
To Inoculate Or Not To Inoculate?
I’ve written before about the scourge of smallpox and the potential risks and rewards of getting inoculated against it in colonial...



HistoricAnnapolis
Feb 24, 20223 min read
An Idea Of Equality
I’ve written before about William Eddis (see “Our Little Capital” from January 28, 2021), an Englishman who arrived in Annapolis in...



HistoricAnnapolis
Feb 11, 20223 min read
The Late Dreary Tempest
We Marylanders are used to the winter storm drill. As soon as forecasters warn of an approaching snowmageddon, we rush out to stock up on...



HistoricAnnapolis
Feb 4, 20224 min read
2021 Preservation Award: Sands House
Historic Annapolis is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Historic Annapolis Preservation Award. HA's Preservation Award...


HistoricAnnapolis
Jan 27, 20222 min read
The Happiest Nation Under The Sun
Two hundred fifty years ago, on January 30, 1772, Annapolis publisher Anne Catharine Green reprinted a positive piece of political...


HistoricAnnapolis
Jan 13, 20224 min read
Of Singular Advantage to this Country
By January 1772, the nonimportation associations of 1769 and 1770, which organized and enforced colonial boycotts of taxed English goods,...


HistoricAnnapolis
Dec 23, 20214 min read
Clubbing in Annapolis
Who knew that going clubbing was all the rage in colonial Annapolis? Of course, the city’s elite gentlemen’s clubs of 250 years ago were...


HistoricAnnapolis
Sep 18, 20213 min read
The Meanest House In Town
A year after actress Nancy Hallam captivated an anonymous Annapolis gentleman (most likely Rev. Jonathan Boucher—see “In Praise of...


HistoricAnnapolis
Aug 21, 20214 min read
Down A Rabbit Hole
Sometimes a 250-year-old clipping from the Maryland Gazette sends me down a research rabbit hole. The welcome mat into this week’s warren...


HistoricAnnapolis
Aug 6, 20213 min read
Five Pounds Reward
A little more than a year ago, I mentioned two projects that told the stories of nine freedom seekers who tried to escape from bound...


HistoricAnnapolis
Jul 23, 20213 min read
Where's My Package?
"I will leave no stone unturn’d to find out who keeps them from me..." Online shipment tracking has really spoiled us. Through the magic...


HistoricAnnapolis
Jul 4, 20213 min read
Five Years Before Independence
250 years ago, on July 4, 1771, the American colonies were only five years away from declaring their independence from England....


HistoricAnnapolis
Jun 17, 20212 min read
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...


HistoricAnnapolis
Apr 22, 20213 min read
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...


HistoricAnnapolis
Apr 8, 20214 min read
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...


HistoricAnnapolis
Mar 25, 20213 min read
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...


HistoricAnnapolis
Mar 12, 20213 min read
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...


HistoricAnnapolis
Feb 25, 20212 min read
A Slow News Cycle
Some news cycles are lighter than others, and that was just as true 250 years ago as it is today. Of course, some 21st-century media work...


HistoricAnnapolis
Feb 12, 20213 min read
Just A Few Queries
I’ve written before (see my November 5, 2020, November 26, 2020, and January 14, 2021 blog entries) about Governor Robert Eden’s...


HistoricAnnapolis
Jan 28, 20212 min read
Our Little Capital
William Eddis arrived in Annapolis in September 1769, three months after his patron, Governor Robert Eden. The Englishman quickly...

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