A Monthly Newsletter for Members and Friends of the St. Mary's County Historical Society
AUGUST 2025
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The View from the Loggia
Peter LaPorte, Executive Director
We're Soon to Turn 75
Next year, the Historical Society will celebrate its 75th Anniversary!
Founded in 1951 by people who relished the unique character of St. Mary's County and wanted both to preserve and share its history with others, 2026 will mark our Diamond Jubilee. And, of course, we haven't stopped - and don't intend to stop - preserving and sharing stories of people, places, and events that are our legacy.
By way of interest, the oldest county historical society in Maryland is the Historical Society of Harford County founded in 1885. Our historical society neighbors to the East and North, Calvert and Charles Counties, were founded in 1953 and 1961 respectively.
Of course, we won't let this wonderful occasion pass unnoticed. Planning is afoot to prepare appropriate programs to fete our seventy-five years. As I have said often in these pages, stay tuned!
Announcing Stories from St. Mary's County
We are pleased to announce the first in a new series of video histories called Stories from St. Mary's County.
The series will consist of stories told by residents of the County, calling on their past as well as what they have experienced with others. Unlike oral histories (which abound on our website), Stories from St. Mary's County uses video and images to enhance and bring depth to narratives. They will not only relate historical moments but, and perhaps most importantly, try to capture the heart - the sense of place and community - of St. Mary's County. These are My Story - Your Story and Our Story.
Some videos in the series have been produced by others and generously shared with us. Others will be produced by us. Ideally, we want to capture people in conversation about their pasts. We want not only to hear words, but see smiles or frowns as the past is recalled. We want, so to speak, to eavesdrop on conversations you would share over a cup of coffee or at a reunion of friends
We invite you to do the same. . .to share reminiscences of "back in the day" lest they become lost forever. If you're shy, then think of it your gift to the young that will help them appreciate the community and culture of St. Mary's within which you grew up.
The first in the series is the late B. Kennedy Abell's Memories of Leonardtown. His charming drawings and gentle narrative recall people and places that may no longer be with us but have not faded from our memories. You can find his, and all future stories, at the bottom of our home page. We'll announce them in the Tudor Hall Times as they are posted.
How about preserving your past - or that of your parents, grandparents or others - through us? We will handle almost everything - we'll even have coffee and donuts if you'd like. Call or email director@stmaryshistory.org.
Once Again: Save the Date!
At the Fall Dinner on October 24th, we will have the pleasure of presenting Donald Barber and his story of family and life in St. Mary's County. 
Donald, along with co-author David Brown, published The Barber Family: From Slavery through Segregation and The Civil Rights Movement. It's a story spanning four generations dealing with challenges, overcoming, and a changing social landscape.
Most of all, it's a family story about hard-work, love, resilience, and prosperity set in St. Mary's County. It is a story about our St. Mary's County community.
A video of a conversation between Donald and David will be presented in the Stories from St. Mary's County series in September. Reservations for the dinner will open in early September, as well.
Tudor Hall Assessment & Engineering Survey
As we reported in the July Tudor Hall Times, we were awarded a generous grant by the Maryland Historical Trust to hire a qualified architecture firm for an in-depth assessment of Tudor Hall's condition and needed repairs.
Our Request for Proposal (RFP) went directly to six qualified historic architecture firms along a "Notice of RFP" published in the press. The notice produced inquiries from eight firms for a total of fourteen.
At this writing, six firms have visited Tudor Hall to "take its temperature"; one or two more are scheduled to visit in the next few weeks. If a firm is to be considered for the project, they are to send a detailed proposal to us no later than August 29th. Each proposal will be carefully evaluated with one, possibly two finalists, selected by the Board of Directors. Then follows discussion with the Maryland Historical Trust and finalizing a contract. If all goes well, by the Fall Dinner we hope to give you some indication of what comes next and when the assessment will commence.
As we said last time, this is a slow and quite possibly bumpy journey. But that's okay. Neither Rome nor Tudor Hall were built in a day.
Past issues of the Tudor Hall Times can be found on our website under Publications
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