Baltimore City Council

For the records of the Mayor and City Council (BRG16), an excellent introduction and guide is:

• LeFurgy, William G., Susan Wetheimer David, and Richard J. Cox, Governing Baltimore: A Guide to the Records of the Mayor and City Council at the Baltimore City Archives. (Baltimore: Baltimore City Archives and Records Management Office, Department of Legislative Reference, 1981).

Beginning with its first Charter in 1797, the City was granted powers of self-government that resulted in the passage of Ordinances and Resolutions affecting every aspect of life in the city. Indexes and published volumes for the period are as follows:

• 1797-1906: Index to the Ordinances and Resolutions of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 1797-1906 by William H. Brune. Baltimore: Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 1907.
• 1797-1798, Ordinances of the Corporation of the City of Baltimore, Passed at their First and Second Session, held February, 1797, and February, 1798. With the Act of Incorporation Prefixed. Baltimore: John Cox, 1875.

Visit City Ordinances and Proceedings of the City Council for more digital copies of the published and unpublished volumes of Ordinances and Resolutions, Proceedings, and topic indexes.

A cooperative effort among the Maryland State Archives, the State Law Library, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and the Legislative Reference Department of the Maryland General Assembly lacks funding and staff but none the less some progress has been made at creating authoritative lists of government publications some of which are viewable at the Maryland State Archives Government Publications web site.

For a comprehensive list of Baltimore City Council Members and their biographies, please visit the Maryland State Archive’s Baltimore City Council Historical List.

The City Council maintains its own informative website at http://www.baltimorecitycouncil.com