"…that the “Star-Spangled Banner,” composed by Francis Scott Key during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, did not become our national anthem until 1931?"
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Library Hours
Attention Researchers:
As of August 16, 2018, Special Collections at the H. Furlong Baldwin Library, Maryland Historical Society will be available by appointment only. Appointments can be requested Thursdays and Fridays and the second Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The appointment request form can be found here.
The main reading room and the general collection will remain available Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library will close for lunch on Saturdays, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Please feel free to email specialcollections@mdhs.org with any further questions. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you!
Special Collections includes:
- Manuscript Collections
- Photograph Collections
- Vertical Files
- Maps and Rare Atlases
- Prints, Broadsides, and Works on Paper
- Architectural Drawings and Blueprints
- Oral Histories
- Sheet Music
- Ephemera
For all other research requests, the library remains open Wednesday-Saturday. For more information, visit this link.
Welcome to the Maryland Historical Society
This is your starting place for exploring the people, places and events that shaped Maryland’s past. Whether you are a student researching a paper, a teacher in need of a lesson plan, a family looking for fun things to do, a collector of rare objects, an amateur genealogist or a lover of period clothing, furniture or rare documents, we can help. You will find everything you need right here – including links to activities, guides and holdings at more than 300 other Maryland historical sites and institutions. Quickly access the information you need, or let our experts point you in the right direction.
