Exercising Freedom: Overcoming Racial and Religious Boundaries

Exercising Freedom: Overcoming Racial and Religious Boundaries. Mount Vernon Cultural Walk. , Contrary to Baltimore’s 19th century conservative appearance, Baltimoreans created progressive, diverse communities that expanded the nation’s racial and religious freedom. By the time of the Civil War, Baltimore had the largest free African American population in the country; approximately 28,000 African Americans lived in Baltimore and 26,000 were free., Some of the most affluent African Americans, many of whom owned their own homes, lived on Hamilton Street, just east of Charles Street: William Bishop, barber; Emory Bond, confectioner; Alexander Wayman, bishop of the Bethel AME Church; Nicholas Dutton, carter; and Romeo Price, waiter. By 1860, Baltimore had more than 1,300 African American property owners and 44 African American institutions, including 16 churches and 15 schools. Baltimore contained one of the most diverse and successful African Americans communities in the country. , Baltimoreans formed the first American Roman Catholic diocese; built the first Swedenborgian Church structure in America; gave birth to the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Church of the United Brethren; co-founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church; and hosted the first sermon pronouncing the Unitarian doctrine. These movements, in which Baltimore was central, proliferated and influenced communities throughout the county., Standing on this corner, the First Unitarian Church, America’s oldest continuously used Unitarian Church represents one of the nation’s greatest “Neo-classical” buildings. The simple, geometric design, constructed in 1818, portrays the desire of the congregation to create a church “modeled upon the simple principles of the Gospels.” It was designed by Maximilian Godefroy (ca. 1770-1837), who was classically educated in France and exiled to America for his opposition to the Napoleonic regime. , [Captions:] , An 1848 lithograph of the Washington Monument, looking north from the intersection of Hamilton and Charles streets. In 1848, housing along Charles Street ended just north of the Washington Monument., The image depicts Maximilian Godefroy’s original interior of the First Unitarian Church. Here Reverend William Ellery Channing proclaimed his famous sermon that first defined Unitarianism., In 1893, architect Joseph Evans Sperry corrected an acoustics problem that plagued the church since its construction. He designed the Roman barrel-vaulted ceiling seen today. The original dome still exists in the attic space above the barrel-vaulted ceiling., Alexander Wayman (1821-1895) grew up on a farm as a free African American in Caroline County, Maryland. In 1840 he joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, became a full minister three years later and, as a bishop, guided Baltimore’s Bethel AME Church for many years. He led the African American delegation in Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession through Baltimore., First built by William Howard, son of John Eager Howard, as a private residence in 1829, the mansion became the home to the Union Club in 1863 and the Athenaeum Club from 1878 to 1908. Its classical architecture complemented the Unitarian Church located directly across Charles Street, creating a wonderful gateway into the Mount Vernon neighborhood. A chronicler of Baltimore described the setting of the club in the 1880s; “On hot summer nights some of its members-rather old men they looked to me, sat upon the portico. Dressed in linen and duck, they rocked to and fro in their chairs, and the clink of ice could be heard in their julep glasses.”, The east side of the 600 block of North Charles Street. In the early 20th century, many Charles Street mansions were constructed into upscale stores by adding large, ornate windows. , Welcome , Discover Mount Vernon Cultural Walk, a 3 mile walking trail through one of America's premier cultural districts. The trail connects 24 historic sites and museums along the Charles Street Byway , a great place to sight-see, shop, and dine., From Charles Center to Mount Vernon Place, from the B&O Railroad building to the Peabody Institute, Baltimore's rich cultural landscape rises from the Chesapeake along the Cultural Walk., Set out on an adventure of discovery in Baltimore!, 👣 Feel the pulse of Baltimore's Cultural heart along the HIstoric Charles Street Byway., 👣 See the original manuscript of Francis Scott Key's poem, "The Defense of Fort McHenry," which became our national anthem, at the Maryland Historical Society., 👣 Climb the nation's first monument to George Washington for an expansive view of Mount Vernon Place. This National Historic Landmark District is home to a world-class orchestra, a professional regional theater, and a host of other cultural institutions and museums., 👣 Explore The Walters Art Museum, which presents world art from pre-dynastic Egypt to 20th century Europe., 👣 Stroll around Cathedral Hill and its centerpiece, the Basilica of the Assumption, begun in 1806 as America's first Roman Catholic Cathedral in the nation's first Catholic diocese , a diocese which stretched west to the Mississippi., 👣 Hear the sounds of ragtime at the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center., 👣 Tune into the Peabody Institute, America's first conservatory of music and one of the world's premier sources of professional mucisians., 👣 Shop on Antique Row, the antique mecca in Baltimore for more than a century and a great place to find a unique treasure or a stunning gift., 👣 Encounter sites associated with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, pioneering composer Eubie Blake; Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate; and Mary Elizabeth Lange, founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence (the first Roman Catholic order of religious women of African ancestry)., 👣 Visit City Center to admire a century of renewal since the Great Fire of 1904 destroyed 1500 buildings , see the 1906 Beaux-Arts B&O Railroad building intended to convey the power of a mighty railroad, the Art Deco Bank of America Tower built at the hight of the roaring 20s, and Mies van Rohe's sleek One Charles Center, the symbol of 60s-style, renewed urban America.