More Baltimore History

In 1880, manufacturing replaced trade and made Baltimore a nationally important industrial center. The port continued to ship increasing amounts of grain, flour, tobacco, and raw cotton to Europe. The new industries of men’s clothing, canning, tin, and sheet-iron ware products, foundry, and machine shop products, cars, and tobacco manufacture had the largest labor force and largest product value.  There was new housing being constructed. Baltimore’s economy grew. There were major builders from 1869 to 1896 gaining more building land and capital. The major builders were craftsmen who were entrepreneurs compared with others in the building trades. They were still small businessmen who built a small number of houses and experienced long careers. They worked with landowners. Some manipulated the city’s leasehold system to their own advantage. Builders received credit from sellers of land, building societies, and land companies. Their most important source of capital was individual lenders, who lent money in small amounts to either on their own account or through lawyers and trustees overseeing the funds they held in trust. In spite of their important role in shaping the city, the contractors were small businessmen who rarely achieved citywide visibility. Until the 1890’s, Baltimore remained a patchwork of nationalities with white natives, German and Irish immigrants, and black Baltimoreans scattered throughout the area in heterogeneous neighborhoods. Baltimore was the origin of a major railroad workers’ strike in 1877. That was when the B&O Company attempted to get lower wages. On July 20, 1877, Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll called up the 5th and 6th Regiments of the National Guard to end the strikes, which had disrupted train service at Cumberland in western Maryland. Citizens sympathetic to the railroad workers attacked the National Guard troops as they marched from their armories in Baltimore to Camden Station. Soldiers from the 6th Regiment fired on the crowd, killing 10 and wounding 25. Rioters then damaged B&O trains and burned portions of the rail station. Order was restored in the city on July 21–22 when federal troops arrived to protect railroad property and end the strike. Expanded economic activity brought many immigrants from the countryside and from Europe after the Civil War. Concerns for young, single Protestant women alone in cities led to the growth of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) movement. When the Baltimore YWCA was founded in 1883, they only offered their services to white women and so the Colored Women's YWCA was founded in 1896. They merged in 1920. 

During the Depression years and World War II, Baltimore changed greatly. Back the time of the Great Depression, there was the loss of power by traditional Democratic leaders and organizations in Baltimore under the New Deal. The old line Democrats operated in the spirit of traditional political bosses who dispensed the patronage. Black people, other ethnic groups, labor, and other former supporters turned from their patrons to other leadership. Baltimore Mayor Howard W. Jackson’s supported gradually eroded until he was defeated in a gubernatorial primary election to choose an opponent for a Republican who earlier defeated Governor Albert C. Richie, a conservative Democrat. Baltimore was a major war production center during World War II. The biggest operations were in Bethlehem Steel’s Fairfield Yard on the southeastern edge of the harbor. It was built by Liberty ships. Its work force peaked at 46,700 in late 1943. Even larger was Glenn Martin, an aircraft plant located 10 miles northeast of downtown. By late 1943 about 150,000 to 200,000 migrant war workers had arrived. They were predominantly poor white southerners; most came from the hills of Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee. War mobilization brought federal pressure to unionize the work force, and by 1941 the leftist CIO had organized most of Baltimore's large industries, while the more conservative AFL also gained many new members. By 1945, labor unions and many ethnic groups had taken over local politics and liberal mayors enjoyed black support as well as white support. The machine was led by Italian Catholic politicians such as Nancy Pelosi's father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., who was mayor in 1947-59; her brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, was mayor from 1967 to 1971. The Catholic priest John F. Cronin’s early confrontations with Communists in the World War II-era labor movement turned him into a leading anti-Communist in the Catholic Church and the US government during the Cold War. Father Cronin, then a prominent Catholic parish priest, saw a united labor movement as central to his moderate, reformist vision for Baltimore's social ills, and worked closely with anti-Communist labor leaders.

The 21st century in Baltimore consisted of a diversity of developments. By January of 2004, the historic Hippodrome Theater was reopened. This came after a large renovation took place as part of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center. In 2006, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture opened on the northeast corner of President Street and East Pratt Street. The National Slavic Museum in Fell’s Point was established in 2012. On April 12, 2012, Johns Hopkins held a dedication ceremony to mark the completion of the United States’ largest medical complexes called the Sheikh Zayed Cardiovascular and Critical Care Tower and the Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center (in Johns Hopkins Hospital). The event held at the entrance to the $1.1 billion and 1.6 million square foot facility. It honored many donors including Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, first president of the United Arab Emirates, and Michael Bloomberg. Maryland formed its Star Spangled 200 celebration. It had festival and a 3 year commemoration of the 200th year anniversary of the War of 1812 and the penning of the Star Spangled Banner. The Star-Spangled Sailabration festival brought a total of 45 tall ships, naval vessels and others from the US, United Kingdom, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico to Baltimore's Harbor. The event held June 13–19, 2012, was the week encompassing Flag Day and the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of War. The Star Spangled Spectular was a 10 day free festival that celebrated the 200th anniversary of the United States National Anthem from September 6-16, 2014. More than 30 naval vessels and tall ships from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Germany, Spain, and Turkey berthed at the Inner Harbor, Fell’s Point and North Locust Point. An air show from the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angels performed during both festivals. The special guests were President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. They were in attendance at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shine. During the course of the Star Spangled 200 celebration, the city was showcased on 3 separate live television broadcasts.  Visit Baltimore CEO, Tom Noonan, was quoted in the Baltimore Sun as calling the Spectacular, "the largest tourism event in our city's history." Over a million people visited Baltimore during both festivals. It is important to note that Francis Scott Key was a racist and slave owner. The national anthem was originally having lyrics that glamorized the evil of slavery. On April 19, 2015, West Baltimore resident Freddie Gray died.

He was in a coma for a week. Gray was in custody after he was caught by the police (he was arrested on April 12, 2015). Gray suffered spinal injuries while in police custody and he fell into a coma. His injuries existed while he was in custody. Some feel that they were accidental and others believe that his injured came as a result of police brutality (which is very common in Baltimore and nationwide). Protests existed and peaceful protests were common. Peaceful protesters filled the City Hall square. By April 18, protesters were in City Hall to oppose police brutality. On April 19, 2015, citizens and groups such as the Justice League of NYC walk along Wilkens Ave. and other streets in West Baltimore in protest against the police following the death of Freddie Gray who died while in the hospital. At a news conference Monday afternoon (on April 20), police said that Gray repeatedly asked for medical care and did not receive it during the arrest that preceded his death. On April 25, 2015, protests continued. There was a fight between sports fans (some of whom shouted racial slurs) and some protesters. Young men broke the windows of a police car. People were dispersed. After Gray’s funeral on April 27, 2015 (at New Shiloh Baptist Church), something happened. Many young people had trouble to go home by transportation issues. At 3:30 pm, dozens of police were gathered on the streets of Baltimore. Then, some threw bottles at police officers and journalists by 3:41 pm. Some wrecked a police care. Some people in the Mondawmin Mall threw bottles and bricks at the police. The CVS Pharmacy and the agates at Camden Yards (or home of the MLB Baltimore Orioles) were closed. The CVS was burned and comes up in smoke by 6:26 pm. One person used an object to stab a hose that firefighters were trying to use. By 7:01 pm. Governor Larry Hogan’s office said that he declared a state of emergency and will active the National Guard to handle the rebellion in Baltimore. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announces that a citywide, nightly curfew will be imposed starting Tuesday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. It will be in effect for one week, Rawlings-Blake said at a press conference (at 7:58 pm.). Col. William Pallozzi of the Maryland State Police announced that up to 5,000 law enforcement officials will be requested from the mid-Atlantic region to help quell the violence in Baltimore (on 8:51 pm). Public schools closed tomorrow on Tuesday in Baltimore. On April 28, protesters experienced tear gas when they refused to submit to the curfew. One protester Joseph Kent was swept up by a van. On April 28, 2015, people begin to clean up their communities after the rebellion. The violations of the civil liberties of many protesters were so overt and so illegal that 100 protesters were released without charges on April 29, 2015. Many protesters would be charged. Also students protest in Baltimore on April 29 too. By April 30, 2017, nationwide rallies continued, with notable protests in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. On May 1, Marilyn Mosby (the state’s attorney for Baltimore city) brought charges against six officers involved in the arrest and transport of Gray. People celebrated in the streets and the curfew remained. On July 8, 2015, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fired police commissioner Anthony Batts after a spike in homicides and complaints that police did not feel supported and were afraid to do their jobs because they feared that charges could be brought against them. The police should be more concerned about justice and ending police brutality than popularity. 6 police officers were charged with crimes relating to Gray’s death.  The trial of William Porter (one of the officers charged) started in November 30, 2015. On April 12, 2016, the Maryland general assembly passed a police reform bill that includes incentives for officers who live where they work and funds community policing. The police union opposed many of the changes and activists were disappointed that the bill did not give the civilian review board investigative power. One cop was acquitted, one trial ended in a hung jury, and four cases are ongoing as of June 12, 2016. 

On September 19, 2016, the Baltimore City Council approved a $660 million bond deal for the $5.5 billion Port Covington redevelopment project. It has been promoted by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank and his real estate company Sagamore Development. Port Covington surpassed the Harbor Point development is the largest tax increment financing deal in Baltimore’s history. It was among the largest urban redevelopment projects in America. The waterfront development includes the new headquarters for Under Armour, shops, housing, offices, and manufacturing spaces is projected to create 26,500 permanent jobs with a $4.3 billion annual economic impact. In an open letter Plank refers to the turbulent history in Baltimore’s economic development and civic life as “forks in the road.” He concluded by saying that, "we saw one of those great forks in the road, and chose the best course" with Port Covington. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake led the signing of three bills that commit the city to the sale of bonds over the next 15 to 20 years to fund the infrastructure for the Port Covington development on September 28, 2016. The current mayor of Baltimore is Catherine Pugh. To her credit, she has allowed the elimination of Confederate statues on public lands in Baltimore. Today, Baltimore is in a crossroads. It has seen many problems (then and now with economic inequality, police brutality, violence, poverty, school issues, etc.) and many good people are contiously fighting every day for real improvements. Many activists are still in Baltimore fighting for justice and we salute them all.



By Timothy