The annual meeting of the St. Michaels Museum will be held on Sunday, April 7^th, beginning at 2:00 pm at the St Michaels Library Meeting Room.

There will be a short business meeting per the Museum By-Laws followed by our featured Program: “Slave Hospitals and Slave Doctors”. University of Maryland professor Michael Olmert will discuss how slave hospitals were once prominent on the plantations of the South. Part medicine, part quarantining of infectious slaves, part capitalism, part charity, and part hypocrisy, they were integral to any large agricultural enterprise. Most of them disappeared after the Civil War. It’s not hard to understand why.

Ghostlike images of this building type still persist in pictures from the dawn of photography. They are also visible in plantation ruins and in a few surviving examples and they have a virtual presence in farm journals and diaries. Some of them were quite large and were capable of treating fifty or sixty patients at a time. Several examples from Jamaica were constructed as elegant Georgian buildings in imported British limestone.

Perhaps their most remarkable aspect is that slaves were often encouraged or allowed to practice African folkloric medicine in them. They used plants and other natural ingredients which must have been safer than the standard western cures of the day including bloodletting. This practice was fairly common, to judge from the number of runaway-slave ads published in period newspapers that describe a missing slave as a “doctor.”

After the presentation refreshments will be served. The meeting is open to all interested persons: members and non-members are most welcome!

For more information, visit the Museum website www.stmichaelsmuseum.org or call 410-745-9561.

The St. Michaels Museum, located on historic 1778 St. Mary’s Square, is now closed until the first weekend in May 2019. The Museum will be open for two days during Christmas in St Michaels weekend, Saturday, December 8th, from 11:00 to 4:00 and Sunday, December 9th, from 12:00 to 3:00. To celebrate Christmas in St. Michaels, there will no admission fee to the museum.

The museum will be decorated for the Christmas season and there will be a small exhibit highlighting objects given to the museum during 2018 such as an early 1860’s school teachers workbook used in a school located on St. Mary’s Square and a tintype collection of a St. Michaels family dating from the mid-19th century.  We also will have photographs taken in St. Michaels during the 1960s and 1970s that show how much the town has changed.

Special Out Of Season Docent Led Walking Tours

Our regular Saturday 10:00 walking tours offered during the May to October season are no longer scheduled during this off-season period. But special tours can be arranged by calling 410-745-6591.

Out of Season Special Tours are $10 Per Person with a minimum of $40 for less than 4 people.

“Frederic Douglass, a Slave in St. Michaels 1833-36”

This tour is a 90 minute walking tour. It features Frederick Douglass and his significant ties to St. Michaels. Two periods of his life are covered: the first period, the three years (1833-1836) he lived in town and nearby farms as a slave. The second period covers his 1877 visit to St Michaels as a famous free man when he met with his former owner Thomas Auld.

“Historic St. Michaels: It’s People, Places and Happenings”

This tour is a 90 minute walking tour. It highlights St. Michaels people, events and historic sites from the last quarter of the 18th century to the early 20th century.

Visit our website www.stmichaelsmuseum.org or call 410-745-9561 for more details about arranging a special Frederick Douglass or Historic St Michaels walking tour or to request a special opening of the museum for a private tour. The Museum is located at  201 E. Chestnut Street, one block from Talbot Street.

The St. Michaels Museum will hold its annual Harvest Supper on Saturday, October 20, from 5:00 -7:00 pm at the Union United Methodist Church Parish Hall located at 100 Railroad Avenue in St. Michaels.

Well-known local organic farmer, Carol Bean of Know Good Farm in Wittman, will create a special soup featuring seasonal produce from her garden. The supper menu will also include a choice of salads and desserts. Drinks will also be offered.

After supper, John Muller, author of Frederick Douglass in Washington, DC: The Lion of Anacostia, will speak on Douglass’ life in the capitol from 1877 until his death in 1895.  Douglas lived in a Victorian mansion in Anacostia named Cedar Hill, which is still open to the public today. Mr. Muller will provide details of the abolitionist’s life in Washington, DC where he was a noted speaker and civil servant.  Several photographs of St. Michaels from the museum collection will be on display.

The public is invited and the cost for the event is $30 per person.  Donations are also welcome. Please call 410-745-9561 to make a reservation and pay at the door. You can also go to www.stmichaelsmuseum.org and pay online.

The St. Michaels Museum celebrates the rich history of 19th century St. Michaels through informative guided walking tours and unique exhibits developed by museum staff. This year, we are celebrating Frederick Douglass’s 200th Anniversary.The St. Michaels Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is supported by donations and the volunteer efforts of our community. The Museum is open from May – October and a guided walking tour is offered Saturdays at 10:00 am. Free parking is available on town streets near the museum and the museum is handicapped accessible. For more information please visit www.stmichaelsmuseum.org.

Through the generosity of a board member, the Board of the St. Michaels Museum will hold a raffle for a chance to win a ticket for a pair (two) of tickets to Paul Simon’s Farewell Tour. This is Paul Simon’s his last concert at Washington, DC’s Capitol One Arena, 601 F St NW. Only fifty raffle tickets will be sold.

The concert on Friday September 14th will begin at 8:00 pm. The seats are ground level, section 3, row T, seats 13 and 14.  Face value of the pair of tickets was $350.00 each. Proceeds of the raffle will benefit the St. Michaels Museum.

The Raffle will begin Monday August 9th. The winner will be selected at random on Monday, August 30th at 11:00 am at the Blue Crab Coffee Shop at 102 Fremont Street in St. Michaels.  

Please visit www.stmichaelsmuseum.org to purchase raffle tickets online.

 

Through the generosity of a board member, the Board of the St. Michaels Museum will hold a raffle for a chance to win a ticket for a pair (two) of tickets to Paul Simon’s Farewell Tour. This is Paul Simon’s his last concert at Washington, DC’s Capitol One Arena, 601 F St NW. Only fifty raffle tickets will be sold.

The concert on Friday September 14th will begin at 8:00 pm. The seats are ground level, section 3, row T, seats 13 and 14. Face value of the pair of tickets was $350.00 each. Proceeds of the raffle will benefit the St. Michaels Museum.

The Raffle will begin Monday August 9th. The winner will be selected at random on Monday, August 30th at 11:00 am at the Blue Crab Coffee Shop at 102 Fremont Street in St. Michaels.

Please visit www.stmichaelsmuseum.org to purchase raffle tickets online.

Once again, the board of the St. Michaels Museum is pleased to offer its popular walking tours.  Every Saturday morning, docents lead tours beginning at 10:00 am.  The tours start at the Museum, at the corner of E. Chestnut and St. Mary’s Square. Two tours are offered, on consecutive Saturdays.

On the first and third Saturday, the tour topic is “Historic St. Michaels: Its People, Places and Events”. This tour is given on the 1^st Saturday as a ninety-minute walking tour and in a shortened version with minimal walking on the 3^rd and 5^th Saturdays. The tour highlights life in St. Michaels during the 19^th Century. Stories will be told by viewing many restored structures from that era and describing the life of famous and typical residents of these times including Frederic Douglass.

On the second and fourth Saturdays, the tour topic is “Frederic Douglass, a slave, in St. Michaels, 1833-1836”. This tour is given in a shortened version with minimal walking on the 2^nd Saturday. On the 4th Saturday the tour is expanded to a ninety- minute walking tour and gives a view of the early life of St. Michaels’ most famous 19^th century resident and the most important African American Abolitionist in the Civil War.

Cost of each tour is $10 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 6-17). The tour departs from St. Michaels Museum. Tours are also available upon request for groups of five or more. For more information, please call 410-745-9561 or visit www.stmichaelsmuseum.org.  Regular hours for the museum are Friday, 1:00 to 4:00, Saturday, 10:00 to 4:00 and Sunday 1:00 to 4:00. Admission is $3 for adults and $1 for youth (ages 6-17). All other times by appointment.  The museum entrance is ADA accessible.

The St. Michaels Museum opens for its 2018 season on Saturday, May 5 at 10am. The opening exhibit is “Business in St. Michaels, 1870-1900”.  The exhibit contains photographs and memorabilia that illustrate the commercial activities of the town including shipbuilding and the seafood industry.  During this important period of growth,the old St. Michaels brick yard and the flour mill were built.  Two landmark buildings were also built during this time frame.  In 1870 the Town Hall building opened on Talbot Street, followed by the founding of the Talbot Bank in 1890.

To celebrate the opening, the Board of Directors of the museum is hosting a reception in the Teetotem Building beginning at 4pm. Curator Kate Fones will lead a tour of the new exhibit and the expanded Frederick Douglass exhibit.  Refreshments will be served, and the public is invited to attend free of charge.

The museum will be open Fridays from 1:00 to 4:00, Saturdays from 10:00 to 4:00 and Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 until the museum closes on October 28. Admission is $3 for adults and $1 for children and youth 6-17 years of age. The museum entrance and main rooms are handicapped accessible.

The mission of the museum is “to celebrate and promote the unique history of St. Michaels and the surrounding area through preservation and education”.  For more information about walking tours and upcoming events including the annual 4^th of July celebration, visit the museum’s website including the Museum Shop, at www.stmichaelsmuseum.org.

The St. Michaels Museum Annual Meeting will take place at the Community Room of the St. Michaels Library on Sunday, April 8^th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. There will be a short business meeting followed by a presentation by Harriette Lowery. Ms. Lowery is on the board of the Frederick Douglass Honor Society and is the Chair of the Frederick Douglass 200th Anniversary celebration committee. Her presentation will include slides about the celebration activities and the Frederick Douglass Honor Society. After her presentation, refreshments will be served.

The public is invited to attend.The St. Michaels Museum promotes the unique history of St. Michaels and the Bay Hundred area and is located at 201 East Chestnut Street. The Museum will reopen May 1^st or by appointment for walking tours. For more information, please call 410-745-9561 or visit www.stmichaelsmuseum.org.

After a successful first year the St. Michaels Museum will hold its second Harvest Supper on Saturday, October 21, at 4pm at the Union United Methodist Church Hall next to the church on Fremont Street in St. Michaels.

Chef and Spirit Grower, Jena Paice, will again provide a hearty autumnal soup, and Chef Jeannie Butler will provide fresh baked breads. Other volunteers will round out the meal with homemade salads and desserts.

This celebration of St. Michael’s past emphasizes the early 1900s.  There will be a collection of the museum’s historic photos of St. Michaels on display.  After the meal there will be a presentation that continues on the theme “St. Michaels, a Watermen’s Village”, delivered by local historian Betty Seymour and museum curator, Kate Fones.  Topics presented will include early maps of St. Michaels, town streetscapes, churches, schools, businesses, plus photos of early homes.

This event will be a wonderful way to learn more about St. Michaels lively history and to enjoy a gathering of old friends and new.

You can make reservations through our email address: [email protected] or by calling 410-745-0530.  Tickets are $25 per person and should be sent to:  St. Michaels Museum, Box 714, St. Michaels, MD 21663.  To become a sponsor of this event and receive two tickets, send $75.  Your contribution helps support the many programs of the museum.

Join the festivities at St. Michaels Museum on Tuesday, July 4 at 10am in Historic St Mary’s Square in St Michaels.  Events begin with a Children’s Parade.  Patriotically dressed entrants are encouraged to bring decked-out bicycles, tricycles, wagons, and pets. Parade participants are asked to arrive at 9:30.

Uncle Sam leads the parade, followed by Maggie, an antique fire engine supplied by the St Michaels Fire Department.  Cars will be re-routed away from the five-block parade route through town.

Back at St. Michaels Museum the program will begin at 11am.  Boy Scouts from Troop 741 will raise the flag and lead the Pledge of Allegiance.  Following a benediction, patriotic and folk songs will be performed by the Royal Oak Musicians.   Guest speaker, Pete Lesher, Chesapeake Maritime Museum Curator, will speak on “Independence and America’s Open Door”.  After we close the program, Magician John Dodge will perform, and the Phillips Wharf Fishmobile will be on hand to show the kids many of the creatures that live in around the bay.  The St Michaels Museum will be open free of charge, and refreshments will be available from the St Michaels Fire Department and the Highland Creamery.

For more information call 410-745-0530