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Maryland
Hulks like Huge Flower Pots: The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay

Hulks like Huge Flower Pots: The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay

12/16/2022 in Maryland by Emma Tanner

At the beginning of the First World War, the United States decided to undertake the largest shipbuilding effort in the nation's history. But before these ships could set sail, the war ended. Thus began the curse of the Ghost Fleet, a large group of unwanted ships that would eventually be abandoned in Mallows Bay on the Potomac. For decades many saw them as an eyesore and hazard. But after years of the neglect, the ships would eventually find their purpose -- in a most unexpected way.  

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Maryland
How the B&O Railroad Almost Gave Kensington, Maryland its Name

How the B&O Railroad Almost Gave Kensington, Maryland its Name

09/23/2022 in Maryland by Katherine Brodt

Kensington, Maryland boasts the second-oldest continuously operational railroad station in the country, serving D.C. commuters since 1891. In 1894, as the area started to grow as a commuter suburb, "Knowles Station" was set to be officially incorporated as a town in Maryland... until a man named Brainard Warner pushed back.

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Maryland
Turkey Tayac's Fight for the Piscataway People

Turkey Tayac's Fight for the Piscataway People

08/24/2022 in Maryland by Meaghan Kacmarcik

For years, Turkey Tayac fought almost singlehandedly for the rights and recognition of his Native American group, the Piscataways. In the 1950s, he found some unlikely allies and successfully fended off an effort to build high rise apartments on sacred Piscataway lands in southern Maryland. A few years later, he helped convince the National Park Service to preserve the land for posterity. It was a remarkable achievement, and Turkey Tayac's work for inclusion would continue, even after his death.

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Maryland
The Burning of Paper, Not Children: A Look at the Catonsville Nine

The Burning of Paper, Not Children: A Look at the Catonsville Nine

06/29/2022 in Maryland by Jenna Furtado

In 1968, nine members of the Catholic Faith entered a Selective Services office in the sleepy town of Catonsville, Maryland. They grabbed hundreds of draft files from the office and took them to the parking lot below, where they burned the files with homemade napalm. These people, known as the Catonsville Nine, represented one small part of the Catholic Left movement, yet became known nationwide for their action and commitment to their beliefs. 

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Maryland
La Dame qui Boite  (The Limping Woman)

La Dame qui Boite (The Limping Woman)

06/14/2022 in Maryland by Meaghan Kacmarcik

Trekking through the thick winter snow of the Pyrenees mountain range, Virginia Hall struggled with each passing step. After thirteen months in war-torn France with insufficient access to food, heating, and clothes, the once striking thirty-six-year-old lost the glow of youth. Hardened by the death, loss, and destruction, she witnessed at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators, she was determined to complete the arduous journey through the mountain range that separated occupied France from neutral Spain.

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Maryland
Jousting Over Maryland's State Sport

Jousting Over Maryland's State Sport

05/20/2022 in Maryland by William Choi

The battle lines were drawn anew early in February 1988. The knights stood together, clad in mail and livery, and braced their lances in readiness. For more than twenty-five years, they had desperately defended their title against the onslaughts of the enemy. Once more, the enemy was in the capitol, and once more the knights of the Maryland Jousting Tournament Association would resist the dishonor of lacrosse becoming the official state sport.

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Maryland
What's in a Name? Silver Spring

What's in a Name? Silver Spring

03/22/2022 in Maryland by Katherine Brodt

How did Silver Spring, Maryland land one of the prettiest, most mystical-sounding names in the Washington, D.C. area? Was there really a magical silver spring that once flowed through the area? Is it as pretty and idyllic as it sounds? Actually, that's exactly where the name comes from: a "silver spring."

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Maryland
The Lynching of George Armwood

The Lynching of George Armwood

03/01/2022 in Maryland by Henry Kokkeler

George Armwood was the last recorded lynching in the state of Maryland. The story of his murder and its shocking aftermath exposed the depth and sinister workings of white supremacy in one of the darkest chapters of American history.

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Maryland
"Will We Let the Ballot Be Taken From Us?": Black Marylanders Fight to Keep the Vote

"Will We Let the Ballot Be Taken From Us?": Black Marylanders Fight to Keep the Vote

09/09/2021 in Maryland by Ben Miller

In 1910 Maryland Democrats planned to bar all African Americans from voting, forever. But Black men and women were ready to fight for their place in the state.

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DC
Brood X in the Eighteenth-Century Headlines

Brood X in the Eighteenth-Century Headlines

05/11/2021 in DC by Katherine Brodt

As a historian, seeing the media “buzz” surrounding cicadas makes me wonder how our ancestors reacted to their periodical swarms. Who were the first people to realize what was going on? Did they understand the seventeen-year cycle? Were they afraid, curious, or unbothered? As I suspected, Washington-area locals have been fascinated by Brood X for a very long time. 

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