A Review by Lisa Greenhouse Librarian II

Assistant Professor of History at Virginia Tech, Dennis Patrick Halpin, has authored a fascinating addition to the Maryland Department’s collection: A Brotherhood of Liberty: Black Reconstruction and its Legacies in Baltimore, 1865-1920 (UPenn Press, 2019).  Halpin’s look at African-American civil rights activism in Baltimore runs from the Reconstruction Era into the Progressive Period, spelling out continuities and highlighting a mostly forgotten cast of characters, whose collective achievements placed Baltimore at the center of those periods’ struggles.

Baltimore, unlike Southern locales in the formerly rebellious states, was not occupied by Federal troops to enforce the mandates of Reconstruction.  The need to “self-reconstruct“ spurred activism in Baltimore and forced it along certain paths that later influenced the tactics of civil rights organizations with national scope. 

Unlike Black men under Reconstruction, Black men in Maryland did not enjoy suffrage until the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1870.  The Republican Party in Maryland was happy to receive the votes of newly enfranchised Blacks but did little to advocate for their civil rights or elevate them to important positions within the party.  Frustration and disillusionment with the Republicans turned activists away from politics as a viable path forward. 

Self-Reconstruction in Baltimore came to embrace legal challenges and peaceful protest as the tools which activists used to carve out civil rights victories.  While Reconstruction ended in the South in 1877, Baltimore’s self-reconstruction really got started in the 1880s, a period that historians have usually discounted as regressive.

Before the courts could be used effectively, the Maryland Bar, which in 1872 limited itself to accepting whites only, had to open to African-American attorneys.  Halpin details the struggle toward this goal, which once achieved in 1885 for Baltimore, paved the way for further progress.  

Harvey Johnson, the pastor of Baltimore’s Union Baptist Church, together with other African-American clergy and attorneys, were the forces behind the activism of the 1880s.  Their Mutual United Brotherhood of Liberty, Baltimore’s first and one of the Nation’s first civil rights organizations, advocated for increased educational opportunities for black children, supported black labor, and pioneered the use of test cases to integrate public accommodations.  

William M. Alexander, pastor at Sharon Baptist, and the attorney, Ashbie W. Hawkins, were important figures in the Brotherhood who carried the struggle forward into the Progressive Period.  While this period saw increased democratization in some respects, for example, the direct election of senators and the granting of women’s suffrage, the flip side of the period for African-Americans was the Jim Crow regime.  However, black activists in Baltimore successfully contested Jim Crow legislation and by taking important roles in national organizations such as the Saratoga Movement and the nascent NAACP, influenced national activists to adopt their techniques. 

In the book’s final chapters, Halpin explores the response of Baltimore’s white community to African-American civil rights victories.  Politicians, judges, police, and the popular press reacted to increased black power and pride by launching efforts to control black power and movement based on spurious claims of heightened black criminal activity.  

Three times during the first decade of the twentieth century, Maryland attempted to legislate the disenfranchisement of blacks.  And three times under Rev. William Alexander’s leadership, using boycotts, protests, and work stoppages, Black Baltimoreans repelled these efforts.  

In 1910, Baltimore passed the nation’s first city ordinance mandating residential segregation.  Civil Rights Attorney, Ashbie Hawkins, fought the ordinance in Maryland courts but his efforts were rendered mute when the US Supreme Court ruled in Buchanan v. Warley against a Louisville, KY, residential segregation ordinance modeled after the one in Baltimore.  Nevertheless, the NAACP’s house organ, The Crisis, credited Hawkins, who had submitted a brief in Buchanan, as instrumental through his activism in bringing about the ultimate court victory.

If A Brotherhood of Liberty is of interest to you, keep in mind that the Maryland Department holds many books on local African-American history.  For example, Not In My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City  (Ivan R. Dee, 2010) by Antero Pietila is an illuminating exploration of residential segregation in Baltimore and nicely compliments Halpin’s later chapters.

By Tiffany James, Program and Social Media Associate

Want to know what people are watching on the Pratt Facebook page? Look no further! Check out the Top 5 Most-Watched Pratt Videos of July 2020.

---

#1: Pratt Virtual Storytime with Mr. Matt

https://www.facebook.com/theprattlibrary/videos/668725787012545/?extid=ynMQN1l0zpg2fAaK

Get ready for Pratt Virtual Storytime Live! Groove and sing along with Pratt Librarian Matt, while he plays children’s rhymes on his guitar. Also, enjoy a read aloud of “I Know a Lot of Things” by Ann & Paul Rand, read with permission from Chronicle Books. You can join the fun Mondays and Thursdays at 11 AM.

---

#2: Tracing Your Family History Using Maryland Property Research

https://www.facebook.com/34954845480/videos/3476303789055754

Every building has history. In this video, Julie Saylor, from the Maryland Department, shows how to use Maryland land records to conduct your own property research. Whether you are looking for the history of a house or conducting genealogical research, you won’t want to miss this informative recording.

---

#3: Maryland Cooking: Historic Cookbooks of the Old Line State

https://www.facebook.com/theprattlibrary/videos/220894892315644/

Fun Fact: Did you know the oldest cookbook in the Pratt’s Special Collections Department dates back to the nineteenth century? Learn about some traditional Maryland recipes and the factors that classify cookbooks as historical documents.

---

#4: Astroblak and The Golden Record

Embark on an interstellar adventure during this third and final episode of Astroblak and The Golden Record. Along the way, you’ll learn deep listening skills as well as how to appreciate album art and inner liner notes, adding value to the vinyl experience. 

---

#5: Tuesdays at Two: Never Judge a Queen by the Cover

https://www.facebook.com/theprattlibrary/videos/294515894991415/

Enjoy the musical talents of Evon Michelle, Baltimore’s 2020 Drag Performer of the Year, and friends as they cover some of the music industry’s beloved divas and musical artists. Be sure to join us Tuesdays at 2PM for a new live musical performance.

---

For more videos like this, check out our upcoming virtual programs on the events page of our website. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

by Sylvie Merlier-Rowen, Children’s Librarian

Prairie Lotus is Linda Sue Park’s newest historical novel. I read it soon after I read A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata, and I could not help but notice a few similarities between the two novels. Even though we find ourselves in a very different environment in Prairie Lotus, Hanna, the main character, has a lot in common with Hanako.

After losing her Chinese mother, Hanna’s father wants to start a new life away from California that has been Hanna’s only home. Prairie Lotus starts with Hanna and her father on the way to their final destination, just like Hanako is on her way to Japan at the beginning of A Place to Belong. The two girls are both going to an unfamiliar place that should become their new home. They both are scared and excited at the same time. They both have suffered from prejudices, and they both lost someone or something dear to them.

Yet, Hanna’s environment is so different from Hanako’s. Hanna’s story is set in the year 1880 in Dakota Territory. She and her father are going to a town called LaForge, where everything is new, and everyone has great hopes for the future. Hanna loves to sew and she dreams of designing dresses. Her immediate goal though is to finish high school and get her diploma. That should be easy to achieve, but Hanna knows all too well that being half-Chinese could pose a problem. Prejudice is at the heart of Prairie Lotus. Hanna and her father have been on the road for three years unable to settle anywhere because of xenophobia. They have high hopes in LaForge because Hanna’s father has a friend who lives there. His name is Mr. Harris, and he is the town’s Justice of the Peace.

Shortly after their arrival in LaForge, Mr. Harris gives permission to Hanna to attend school. The first day she goes to school, she keeps her hat on to hide her face, but she decides to take it off on the second day. By evening, the people of LaForge are up in arms against Hanna going to school with their children. Through them, Linda Sue Park depicts the most primal form of prejudice, the one that is born out of ignorance, fear, and insecurity. This is the same hurtful prejudice they have against the Native Americans from whom they stole the land. It is fitting that the author includes a few Sioux women who Hanna befriends. The group of Sioux women and children are dignified by the author’s writing. She also contrasts Hanna’s shy friendliness and interest in them with the LaForge people’s hostility and lack of respect.

Hanna is not alone in this battle against prejudice. She has a few adult allies and one or two school friends, but is that enough for her father and her to defeat the demons of prejudice, and settle in LaForge?

Gotham. Batman. Joker. Each one of these famous names invoke meaning. Gotham, the city of monsters and madness; Batman, the dark knight and defender of Gotham; and Joker, the infamous crime lord who revels in madness with a smile. Then there is Harley. Harley Quinn, is the harlequin or joker-esque equivalent to the crowned prince of crime. Infamously, Harley is known as the right-hand woman of the Joker, but who was she before she painted her face with a smile?

In this origin story, we meet Harleen Quinzel, a struggling young psychiatrist who is determined to prove that her revolutionary rehabilitation theory can help save the citizens of Gotham from its haunting  madness. To test her theory, she is given the opportunity to conduct her research at Arkham Asylum. Her study eventually leads to her fateful encounter with the Joker.

This story is fascinating in that you get an origin for Harley Quinn through the eyes of her alter-ego, Harleen Quinzel. Although this is the same woman, Harleen and Harley come across as completely different . The writing is not too crazy and over the top, as Harley Quinn can be portrayed, but comes off as sophisticated. We also get the opportunity to see the city of  Gotham  through Harleen’s perspective in this unorthodox romance novel. The script is also very  intriguing in that it  does a great job of diving into the study of criminal psychology.

What I love most about this is that it’s not just an origin story for Harley Quinn. This novel highlights other very prominent Gotham characters  and Harleen’s encounters and decisions serve as a catalyst for their own. Who could they be? Well, you have to read it to find out!

The art and story were both by Stjepan Sejic. This is great because at times you may get a really great team of writers and illustrators who collaborate on a graphic novel series (e.g. Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan for Saga, Image), but this can possibly become detrimental to the story if the great minds don’t think alike . However, there is nothing more satisfying than the storyteller being able to appropriately illustrate how they’d like to tell  their tale. I  also enjoy how the artwork is used to capture the story. You can see how Stjepan plays with the color scheme, inspired by that of Harley Quinn’s costume, by giving  hints of red and black on each page. The  artwork is also quite dynamic in how it helps express character thoughts, feelings, memories and actions.

Novel Recommendations: More of Stjepan’s work as well as Joker or Harley Quinn related comics and novels on Hoopla, RBDigital, and Overdrive.

Stay tuned for the next focus of Comics 411 where there will be a readers’ advisory for DC Black Label’s Luthor.

Other cool recommendations for adult graphic novels- Graphics Galore: Graphic Novel Recommendations by Deborah on the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/theprattlibrary/videos/230461271329936/

Don’t forget Enoch Pratt’s Summer Challenge is also for adults! (Summer Challenge info for adults) Imagine Your Story!

by Doyun Lee, Librarian

Though the recent closures due to COVID-19 prevents us from visiting art galleries and seeing works of art in person, there is an abundance of opportunities for visual art experiences online. Most major museums and other institutions have worked over the years towards digitizing their resources but recent shutdowns have pushed these establishments to provide greater virtual experiences to the public. Not sure where to start your at-home virtual art journey? Here is a list of various resources and some highlighted activities to help you navigate the sites.

Did you know that the Enoch Pratt Free Library is also home to a digital collection of rare and unique historical materials? This is a great place to start browsing images to learn about local Baltimore and Maryland history. Some featured collections include photographs taken of the Bethlehem Steel Co. Maryland between 1891 and 1962, Chicory, a magazine of poetry and art published by the Pratt Library between 1966 and 1983, and photographs from between the 1890s and the 1970s depicting the social, economic, and political lives of African American Marylanders.

ART21 is an award-winning PBS series that focuses exclusively on contemporary art and artists. Curated playlists such as the Teaching with Community and Taking a Stand playlists can be a good place to start. There is also a live broadcast channel streaming a random clip if you are feeling wild. Full episodes can be viewed on the official PBS site.

Artbound is another award-winning art series focusing on LA art and artists. Full episodes such as The Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto and Artist and Mother as well as clips are available on the site.

Museum Crush and SHOW ME are UK sites that help users navigate various objects housed in UK museums. Museum Crush features stories that weave together artifacts found in different museums and SHOW ME is a family oriented site that provides games, collections, videos, stories and homework help to foster an appreciation of museums in young audiences.

Google Arts and Culture is a museum portal offering a wide range of access to museums around the world. Though not exhaustive and always up-to-date with the latest resources, it is the most thorough list online and a great starting point. You can begin locally with Baltimore’s own Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art (Click on the links to the museums’ respective pages for further exploration!), and then travel around the country or the world at will by visiting museums in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Istanbul, Paris and Mexico City! You can even tour Frida Kahlo’s studio in Mexico City using Google Street View or stop by The Musée de l’Orangerie to view its critically acclaimed installation of Monet’s Water Lilies in the oval rooms. The Google Arts and Culture main site also features fun games and activities such as the Art Transfer App which allows you to transform your photos into the styles of renowned artists like van Gogh and Kandinsky.

Visiting the sites of individual art museums can also provide endless amounts of creative activities that can be done in the comfort of your home. Here is a list of some examples:

• There is a wide array of virtual programs being offered on a daily basis at the Museum of Contemporary Art, LA (MOCA). Watch what artists are doing at home and at their studios during the shutdown or join the reading discussions centered around art-related texts!

• Travel virtually all the way to Mumbai, India and explore the Sarmaya Arts Foundation, the nation’s first ever digital archive. 

• Tate Britain’s Create Like an Artist tutorials are for both kids and adults and provide guidance on painting, printing and collage, textile, sculpture, and more. 

• The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) has compiled a curated list of black movies and shows and a thorough list of essential resources to help you through the pandemic. 

• The Chez Baldwin online exhibition by the National Museum of African American History and Culture demonstrates how the places that James Baldwin chose as home affected the trajectory of his life.

• Like the work of its eponymous painter, the Dali Theatre-Museum is a surreal experience. You can tour the theatre-museum virtually in its entirety. 

Exhausted your collection of coloring sheets weeks ago? Color our Collections provides free coloring sheets donated from the collections of libraries, archives and other cultural institutions. You can find coloring pages filled with illustrations of real and mythological creatures, botanical illustrations, and historical engravings.

If you are working on a creative project and need some reference materials, Sketchfab provides over 3 million 3d models that can be downloaded with purchase. However, viewing the models is free and is a great resource for drawing references!

For even further exploration, here are two extensive lists of virtual museum resources:

The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Museum Resources, E-Learning, and Online Collections