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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST (Historic Sites Survey) var.d. MSA SE16-3 Image No: se16-3-0108 Enlarge and print image (86K) |
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST (Historic Sites Survey) var.d. MSA SE16-3 Image No: se16-3-0108 Enlarge and print image (86K) |
| NFS Form 1 0-900-a OMB Approval No. 1 024-001 8 (8-36) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places n *- ,. r»i_ A Name of Property Continuation Sheet Baltimore City, Maryland Section 8 Page 13 County and State East Baltimore, primarily south of the district, is also home to the greatest concentration of Ukrainians in the city. The community settled in an east-west pattern south of Patterson Park, along Eastern Avenue, spilling over the city boundary into Essex. The neighborhood boasted a youth home, a sports club, a federal credit union, and several churches. By 1922, approximately 500 Ukrainians lived in East Baltimore. This group experienced another influx during and after World War II, as displaced Eastern Europeans fled their war-torn homes.1 One of the major themes to emerge from the Baltimore Neighborhood Heritage Project oral interviews with East Baltimore residents is the relative harmony and mutual assistance that prevailed among immigrant groups. For example, Helen Kasiotis received assistance from Our Lady of Pompeii, the Italian church, during the Depression. Although the priest asked her why she did not seek help from the Greek Orthodox Church, he nevertheless provided her with groceries.2 Mary Kraus Feehley, when questioned about exclusiveness within the German community, insisted that "nobody seemed to be friends because they [were German].... You were just, everybody was alike. And not just friends because you were German or any other nationality."3 Likewise, Myrtle DeVaughn recalled few expressions of overt anti-Semitism: "We had a lot of Jewish people on the avenue [Eastern Avenue] and it didn't make any difference either. They went their way. They went to the synagogue and our people went to churches, but as neighbors they were very friendly." However, it is again critical to note that such tolerance did not extend to African-Americans, who did not own homes in the district. Churches and Parochial Schools. Synagogues and Jewish Cemeteries The original German settlers were largely Roman Catholic. To attend mass, they had to walk about a mile and half to St. Michael's Church and School on Lombard and Wolfe (in Fells Point). In 1870, they petitioned for a church in their own neighborhood. In 1873, the Redemptorists bought three acres of land on the abandoned site of Fort Marshall. Before construction began, the hill that had given "Highland Town" its name was leveled. The church was called Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church (located just south of the district, at Foster Street and Highland Avenue). Italians and other Catholic immigrants also attended services at Sacred Heart until they managed to build churches of their own. "[W]e couldnt afford the carfare to go to St Luke and St. Leo's down in Little Italy," resident Grace DiMartino recalled, "We used to go to the German church. And that's a beautiful church."4 The first Roman Catholic church constructed in the district was St. Elizabeth's of Hungary Roman Catholic Church (1895-1926), at East Baltimore and Lakewood streets. St. Elizabeth's began as a single building housing a church and a school and grew to include a separate convent, school, church, and parish hall. By World War n, the church was one of the largest parishes in the archdiocese and had the largest student enrollment, 1500 students, in 1931.5 The early parish members were predominantly German and Irish. 1 Hib Hayuk, "Geography of the Ukranian Population in Maryland," in The Ukrainians of Maryland, edited by Stephen Basarab, Paul Fenchak and Wolodymvr C. Sushko, (Baltimore: Ukrainian Education Association of Maryland, Inc., 1977), pp. 121-8. 2 Oral interview wilh Helen Kasiotis, BNHP, box 34, UB. 3 Oral interview with Mary Kraus Feebly, BNHP, box 13, UB. 4 Interview with Grace DiMartino, BNHP, box 9, UB. 5 Peter Kurtze, National Register Nomination for St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1994), Section 8, Page 1. |