The Story of the St. Inigoes Mission 1634 - 1994
On February 22, 2024, Historically Speaking presented The Story of the St. Inigoes Mission 1634 - 1994 with Fr. Francis Michael Walsh at Historic St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in St. Inigoes, MD.
Fr. Walsh's history of the St. Inigoes Mission is of considerable importance to historians and all those interested in the history of St. Mary's County. It is an important story told by a man of deep faith. It is a story of persecution from without and from within the Catholic Church. It is the story of men who gave faith more importance than appearances.
In a pre-publication review, St. Mary's College of Maryland Associate Professor of History, Dr. Garrey Dennie, wrote:
"Woven then into the fabric of the story Father Walsh tells is an enduring optimism. For a very long time, race did indeed overcome faith as the marker of Catholic identity in St. Inigoes. But the possibility of positive change, the idea that within the faith itself Black and White Catholics could arrive at shared understanding of how to pursue their best lives, Black Catholics never abandoned that goal. Neither did Father Walsh. That is the message of this work."
Fr. Walsh's book is available from the St. Mary's County Historical Society at our Bookstore.
Historically Speaking is a joint production of the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
A Murder in St. Mary's County
On Sunday, October 13, 1901, Flora Catherine Love Johnson, a young wife and mother, died suddenly at her residence in Leonardtown. Some said Flora died of natural causes. Others said she died of hemorrhaging from being struck with an unknown object. Two others accused her husband, Peter Henry Johnson, of her murder.
The investigation into Flora’s death and other domestic violence cases both in the North and the South during the 19th century became a lens for Holly Fabbri to research the idea of male honor in America, especially for southern men throughout the 19th century, research made all the more important as Flora Catherine Love Johnson was Miss Fabbri's Great Grandmother. Holly Fabbri is Associate Director of Alumni Relations at St. Mary's College of Maryland. She tells the story behind Flora Catherine Love's death and traces the historical and legal underpinnings of the concept of male honor which dominated 19th century patriarchal American society and law, especially in the agricultural South.
This Historically Speaking program was recorded on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at the Inn at Leonardtown.
Historically Speaking is a joint undertaking of the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Religion in Jurisprudence and History
The St. Mary's County Historical Society in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Democracy is pleased to present Kenneth Lasson Professor of Law, Emeritus at the University of Baltimore School of Law speaking on Religion in Jurisprudence and History. Professor Lasson received his Bachelor and Master Degrees at The Johns Hopkins University and his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. He is professor of law emeritus at the University of Baltimore School of Law and a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
This presentation was recorded on July 19, 2023, at the Inn at Leonardtown.
Historically Speaking is a joint undertaking of the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland and supported by a grant from the Southern Maryland Heritage Area.
Racial Identity: The Evolution of our Understanding from the 17th Century to Today
Our understanding of racial identity has changed over time. What does this change consist? How does it occur? What are the consequences for communities and social interaction? A distinguished panel discussed these and other questions at this Historically Speaking program on November 3, 2022 at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
The panel included:
Garrey Dennie - Associate Professor of History at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Philip Levy, PhD: Professor of History, University of South Florida.
Julia King, PhD - Professor of Anthropology at St Mary's College of Maryland.
Professor Antonio Ugues, Jr. PhD: Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Democracy was the Moderator.
Historically Speaking is a joint undertaking of the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland and supported by a grant from the Southern Maryland Heritage Area.
The Role of Children in the Colonial Chesapeake
Children are an understudied group of people historically, especially in archaeology. Where children have been studied, it is typically in relation to mortality rates.
On September 7, 2022, St. Mary's College of Maryland graduate Catherine Dye offered an in-depth look into the lives of children in the Virginia and Maryland colonies through an archaeological lens. Her analysis shed important light on the experience of childhood in the colonial Chesapeake. In addition to providing an archaeological examination of childhood mortality, the study of child bodies can reflect attitudes toward children at that time. Material culture in combination with burial conditions of children indicates the emotional value these children had, complicating the notion that children were valued primarily for their economic contribution to family or community life.
Historically Speaking is a joint undertaking of the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
People of American Indian, African, and European ancestry have been connected with Maryland’s Jesuit plantations throughout their history. Archaeological evidence of Indian missions in Maryland—however fragmented—contributes to a narrative of the Maryland missions that is at odds with prevailing nineteenth- and twentieth-century histories.
Join Dr. Laura Masur, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Catholic University of America, as she probes this often over-looked part of Maryland - and St Mary's County - history.
Historically Speaking is a joint undertaking of the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland and supported by a grant from the Southern Maryland Heritage Area.
[Due to technical difficulties, from time to time short sections of video do not appear on the screen although the audio is present. We regret this inconvenience and assure viewers that Dr. Masur's talk is in its entirety.]
Our Dear-Bought Liberty - Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America is a book that places the Calverts and St Mary's County at the heart of American religious Liberty. Written by Michael Breidenbach of Ave Maria University and published last May, the book is about early American Catholic leaders, and in particular Cecil Calvert as well as members of the prominent Carroll family.
In this lecture, Michael Breidenbach shows how Maryland's Catholics emphasized their church’s own traditions — rather than Enlightenment liberalism — to secure the religious liberty that enabled their incorporation in American life. His research encourages us to revise not only our sense of who the American founders were.
Professor Breidenbach's book is available from the Historical Society at our Bookstore
This Historically Speaking lecture took place on August 10, 2021, and was co-sponsored by Chesterton Academy of St Mary's and Historic St Mary's City.
On April 26th, Dr Jamie Goodall, staff historian with the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, DC, spoke on her book "Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars". Her tale centered on the oyster pirates, a fascinating history of intrigue, plunder and illicit commerce raiding.
This program in the Historically Speaking series was a collaboration between St Mary's County Historical Society and St Mary's Ryken High School.
Dr. Goodall's book is available from the Historical Society at our Bookstore.
The Honorable Daniel A. Friedman of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals spoke at Anne Arundel Hall at St Mary's College of Maryland.
Judge Friedman explored the evolution of legal and political rights during the Revolutionary Era, how those rights were formed and which state in the Chesapeake region, including Maryland, can lay claim to having been the first to formally proclaim those rights.
The program was recorded at St Mary's College of Maryland on September 16, 2020.
This program was a joint undertaking of the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Co-produced with the PAX River Naval Air Museum, this episode of Historically Speaking relates the important Naval aviation activities at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station as well as Webster Field, the Piney Point torpedo range, and other wartime Naval facilities in Southern Maryland. Developed by Bob Tourville of the Museum, this is an engrossing look at little-known activities and life during World War II.
The first in the St Mary's County Historical Society's Historically Speaking series of talks, this program was produced in collaboration with the PAX River Naval Air Museum.
Told by Bob Tourville, "PAX River's Forgotten Cold Warriors" reveals a part of the Naval Air Station’s history about which few people know.
Bob outlines the missions and challenges of PAX River operational squadrons during the Cold War. The accomplishments of these aviators, technicians, and specialists form a nearly forgotten chapter in St Mary’s County and Southern Maryland history.