Maryland Historical Society

We hit up groupon (my #1 boo) and got discounted adult tickets. The only thing I knew about the museum was that it has the original manuscript of the Star Spangled Banner. Yes, the song we sing before every sports game, in case you forgot.
The place has much much more than that. There were tons of original clothes and artifacts from the war of 1812, from napoleon’s family that married a wealthy Baltimore family, and tons of colonial history. From maps, letters, art, to old weapons to coffins/​bones of the original Baltimore family, this place had it all. I was so pleasantly surprised to learn how important the city was during the wars and in the development of our country overall.
Of course, the main attraction did not disappoint. The original manuscript is only available every 15 min and is hidden from the light the rest of the time to preserve the old paper it’s written on be patient and enjoy reading/​singling along when you check it out. You’ll feel super ‘merican.

Well displayed pieces. A nice mixture of video, paintings, documents, artifacts, clothing to explain the history of Maryland. I enjoyed the modernity of the building dedicated to conserving the past. Bright, airy and expansive spaces. Soaring ceilings and unexpected windows that lit up dark corners. The Civil War portion was the done well with a central glass case surrounding various forms of dresses and uniforms from that era. On the walls, the stories of people who lived through the the Civil War: Generals, soldiers, women, slaves. Lots to see and most comprehensive collection I’ve seen outside of the Smithsonian.
An exhibit that captured my morbid sensibilities was The Tale of Three Coffins. Fascinating and it blew my mind that hey had actual parts of the skeletons in display. The skull of the woman and parts of the infant’s ribs, mandible and skull. A video done by he History channel explains the find in St. Mary’s City, once the capital during the first colonial days and later completely abandoned in favor of Annapolis. They even had the actual lead coffins, as if part of the skeletons weren’t amazing enough. It was macabre to see the bones of people on display as it felt disrespectful to me. However they are to be reinterred so that made me feel less creepy about it.
This museum is much larger than I thought. If you want to read everything, look in each display and watch the accompanying videos you will be overwhelmed. The 2^nd floor has The War of 1812 with many cool artifacts, it has life in Maryland exhibits and the 3^rd floor was unexpected. Maryland furniture. Gorgeous examples of Maryland’s furniture artistry and what it said about the times and people who made them and used them. There are some astounding pieces of furniture up here. Its neat that there are paintings of Maryland’s wealthy and the piece of furniture upon which they sat (and that you can see in the painting) is in front of it. It’s a nice touch.
I almost overlooked one gallery dedicated to Baltimore’s «royalty». The ex-​wife of Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest brother who had aspirations to the throne for her son despite being rejected by both Napoleon and his brother (her husband). I never knew! She was an ambitious looker though and had very modern ideas for a woman of her era. Fascinating character.
If I were taking kids, I’d do this museum in small doses. Prep them and choose one subject. I was impressed with the scope and the display and the variety of media and artifacts this museum had. The presentation was bright, modern and had more than guns, swords and papers. Kudos to the historical society! This museum is quite the feather in their cap.
A standing ovation to their energy conservation efforts where the lights shut off if no movement detected. A little disconcerting when you first step into a darkened gallery and when you’ve stayed still so long that the lights go off with an echoing bang leaving you in the spooky dark until you dance about in a panic. Still though, gotta love sustainability.
This museum definitely drives home the very rich past of this city and the significance that Maryland played in the birth of our nation. It’s a lot to digest in an afternoon, but well worth the time.

Had an event here recently and as so surprised at the collection. This is a really cool museum about Maryland and must see for everyone. They have a small event space but its a great venue. They offered tours during our event. Awesome gem, that you might not know about!

This is one awesome place. This was my first time here and I was attending an event. The artwork displayed was awesome. I can’t believe I had never had been here before. I will need to return to take time just to explore.

Decent sized museum with a variety of displays when I went. Can’t exactly remember the exact displays when I went but I remember seeing something about a history of Maryland from founding to present day with portraits of important people such as Charles Carroll. I do have to say that for history enthusiasts such as myself, its a good place, even if most of the history is focused on Maryland, but then again, this is the Maryland Historical Society.
Not sure if this was a place I would take kids because there’s some parts that they’ll like and there’s going to be parts where they get bored out of their minds. Not all kids are the same either, some are more interested in history than others so it really depends. If your kids like history then I’d recommend it.
Overall, if you like history, this would be a place to go. There’s an admission fee but it’s relatively inexpensive compared to other museums. Definitely a good place to spend some time and learn more about the state of Maryland.

This was an all right place. I guess I didn’t spend enough time in the exhibits while I was there, but I was kind of overwhelmed by the Civil War exhibit on the first floor. It was very graphics and text-​heavy and it kind of felt a little bit like sensory overload after the entire thing. That said, I felt it was well-​composed in terms of the objects chosen and you do get to see some very cool stuff. The upstairs rooms seemed a bit more haphazardly put together, with a room of paintings, a room of furniture, a bunch of silver — I felt like there was something going on there in terms of a «point» that I missed because it wasn’t explicitly stated.
Still, it’s fairly large compared to other historical societies I’ve been to, really almost like a Maryland State Museum or something.

message to previous reviewer — Its Nipper!
If you want a great day of a true taste of Maryland then the Historical Society is the place for you.
The Furlong Library is a great step on the genealogy research trail.
Go back often as the exhibits are ever changing.

Outside there was a city paper sign that said this won for best museum experience, and the big Nibbler and China town signs we could see from the outside made it look fun.
Eh – it was just some Maryland history and a lot of Peale paintings.
I am giving it three stars though because the docent was SO friendly and informative when we entered. I haven’t experienced such a nice one in a while.