NEWS FROM FOUR RIVERS
May 11, 2021
Check Out Our Recent Blog Posts!
During this time of curtailed activities due to COVID-19, we have been sharing online resources and information from our partners. If you haven’t been to our website recently, here are some posts you may have missed.

We will continue to gather resources to keep you informed and to keep all of us connected!



Celebrate Preservation Month this May
Join history enthusiasts nationwide this May in celebrating National Preservation Month. “This Place Matters” is the theme of the national campaign sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It encourages people to celebrate the historic places that are meaningful to them and to their communities.

The Office of Planning & Zoning is joining in on the celebration by inviting citizens to participate in their Preservation Stewardship Program, sponsored by the Cultural Resources Section. The CRS team will offer several events and educational programs throughout the month, so citizens can explore, experience, and participate in preserving the historic places that matter across the County.

Upcoming events include:
Virtual Lecture – 175 Years of the U.S. Naval Academy
TODAY, Tuesday, May 11
7:00 pm
Organization: Historic Annapolis

The history of Annapolis and the U.S. Naval Academy are intertwined. Our past and our future are connected! Join Tracie Logan, Senior Curator of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, for this presentation about the upcoming exhibit, “175 Years of the U.S. Naval Academy.” She will share how the Academy Museum researched, created, and built their new exhibition celebrating 175 years of Naval Academy history. Ms. Logan will explain how the exhibit items were selected to represent the rich history of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Registration is required. This event is free to attend with a suggested donation of $10. Register for 175 Years of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Learning at London Town: Pollination Exploration
Wednesday, May 12, 1:00-2:30 pm & Saturday, May 15, 10:00-11:30am
Historic London Town & Gardens
839 Londontown Road, Edgewater

This month is for the birds! Go searching for the pollinators both large and small that keep the gardens at Historic London Town beautiful. Along the way, discuss the importance and conservation of pollinators, and you’ll help Historic London Town and Gardens enhance their pollinator habitat.

Pre-registration is required due to limited availability. Cost to attend is $8 for member children, grades 1 – 4 or $10 for non-member children, grades 1 – 4. Register for Learning at London Town: Pollination Exploration.
“After the Fashion of His Country”- Asia and Asians in the 18th Century Mid-Atlantic
Wednesday, May 12
7:00 pm
Organization: Anne Arundel County Public Library

Asia was known for centuries in Europe, and the British were keen to profit off the exotic goods through commerce. This trade was far from a one-sided exchange, it was a dialogue between two very distinct cultures. Goods, ideas, and people flowed through trade routes established by the British East India Company and reached as far as the 13 colonies (soon, the nascent United States). These goods, and yes, even people, arrived as distant foreigners in a strange land, but left an indelible mark that has only recently been uncovered.
Virtual Lecture – The Women of Chateau Lafayette
Wednesday, May 12
7:00 pm
Organization: Captain Avery Museum

Named one of 2021’s Most Anticipated Historical Novels by Oprah Magazine! An epic saga from this New York Times bestselling author – based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy. Most castles are protected by men. This one by women. A founding mother…A daring visionary… A reluctant resistor… The Women of Chateau Lafayette is a sweeping novel about duty and hope, love and courage, and the strength we take from those who came before us. Join the Captain Avery Museum for a discussion with author Stephanie Dray about her newest book.

This event is free to attend. Register for The Women of Chateau Lafayette.
Lunch and Learn: Baltimore Women and Benevolence During the Civil War
Thursday, May 13
1:00 pm
Organizations: The Maryland State Archives and The Maryland Four Centuries Project

Want to know more about the largely untold story of Maryland’s Women and the Civil War home front? Join the Maryland State Archives and the Maryland Four Centuries Project for an overview of their wartime roles as Rob Schoeberlein, the Acting Archivist of Baltimore City, recounts activities that range from nursing care and charitable work to smuggling and spying, with a few female soldier stories added as well. You might have heard of the Cary sisters of “Maryland, My Maryland” fame, but what about Mary Prout and her friends? Come learn about women that you may not know, but who all deserve to be celebrated.

This event is free to attend. Login information is available on the event page.
Online Event - William Oliver Stevens, the Harwood Sisters, and Annapolis
Thursday, May 13
2:00-3:30 pm
Organization: Hammond-Harwood House

Among the more colorful residents of the Hammond-Harwood House over the years was William Oliver Stevens, who rented a wing from the Harwood sisters in 1904-1905. A recently hired instructor of English at the Naval Academy, Stevens was to play a lively role in Annapolis culture and politics over the next twenty years. He published and illustrated satirical alphabets on Maryland social mores; he wrote the first naval textbooks on sea power; he became an authoritative commentator on naval affairs; and he and his wife, Claudia Mason Stevens, were leaders of the city’s suffrage movement. This talk will provide an overview of Stevens’s career and its explosive conclusion as well as examine his recollections of Lucy and Hester Anne Harwood in Annapolis, Anne Arundel’s Town, his 1937 retrospective look at the city he for many years was happy to call home.

Join the Tanyard/Franklin Cemetery Clean-Up Day
Destination Annapolis Podcast Features Carol Benson
Did you know? Last week's Destination Annapolis podcast, hosted by Susan Seifried from Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County (VAAAC), is an interview with Four Rivers Executive Director, Dr. Carol Benson. Carol talks about Four Rivers, its mission, and how the Boundary Amendment that was approved on April 8th has changed the character and goals of the heritage area.

“Since 2001, the Four Rivers Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town and South County has been working to help create a more livable and economically sustainable community for all by serving as a funding resource for non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving the region’s unique heritage. Listen as Four Rivers Executive Director Dr. Carol Benson explains how her organization uses every tool in its tool kit to help its partners tell their own stories in their own voices. Having just doubled the size of the heritage area, Four Rivers looks forward to helping even more organizations by administering grants and fostering collaborative efforts to help share stories that otherwise might be forever untold.”
Virtually Explore the Unseen Treasures at St. John's College
Did you know that St. John’s College has a collection of more than 800 pieces of fine and decorative art? The Mitchell Gallery docents have stepped up to talk about some of the pieces in the collection that are generally never seen by the public. Check the Unseen Treasures! web page for dates and topics on pieces including outdoor sculptures, ukiyo-e prints, engravings, paintings, and sometimes obscure but interesting objects. Free and open to the public.
Heritage Area Internship Opportunity
The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area in Frederick, MD seeks applicants for its 2021 Summer Internship, with a focus on Communications, Media, Development, and Events. The intern will work approximately 30 hours/week for 11 weeks and receive $11.75/hour.

The intern will contribute to several projects that may enhance their portfolio, such as an update to the heritage area brochure (both interpretive and promotional), press materials, guest blog posts, materials for annual fund solicitations, and annual meeting planning. Help with projects at the historic Newcomer House, the Heart of the Civil War Visitor Center (near Sharpsburg, MD), may also be included.

Application Deadline: May 15, 2021.
Four Rivers Heritage Area | 410-222-1805 | heritage_area@aacounty.org | fourriversheritage.org