Upcoming Events

September Lunch and Learn
Let Us Alone: The Origins of Baltimore's Police State

Thursday, September 10, 2026 at 1:00 pm
Presented by Mike Casiano
Online Event

In this lecture, Mike Casiano will draw from his recent book, Let Us Alone, to explore the racial origins of policing in Baltimore. The lecture will detail two interconnected themes. First, it will examine how policing evolved from an inefficient and vigilante-driven system into a modern and paramilitary endeavor focused on suppressing citizens and maximizing the power, wealth, and reach of capitalists. Second, it will analyze how decades of racial antagonism shaped Baltimore policing into an apparatus primarily oriented around subduing Black freedom. Specifically, the talk will focus on the racialized nature of public order policing, the militarization of the Baltimore police, and violations of due process in the court system.

Mike Casiano is an associate professor in UMBC's Department of American Studies and a core faculty member in UMBC's Public Humanities minor. His book, Let Us Alone: The Origins of Baltimore's Police State, examines the relationship between policing, municipal governance, and race in post-Civil War Baltimore. Mike's next project is a labor history of early twentieth century port cities in the Mid-Atlantic that examines the relationship between policing, unionization, and race. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Oxford Bibliographies, the Journal of Southern History, and the Journal of Urban History.

October Lunch and Learn
Worker Perspectives in the Baltimore Museum of Industry Archives

Thursday, October 8 at 1:00 pm
Presented by Maggi Marzolf
Online Event

Join Baltimore Museum of Industry Archivist Maggi Marzolf for a behind-the-scenes look at archival materials that explore the perspectives of the workers who supported and labored in Baltimore-based industries. Through photographs, documents, and other rarely seen materials, explore stories of labor, unionization, workplace culture, and the social and economic forces that shaped workers' experiences. Featured collections include the Charles Bernstein Papers, BGE, Bethlehem Steel, the Port That Built a City and State film collection, and the Joseph Kotelchuk Papers - including materials that have yet to make their public debut in the museum's online archives.

Maggi Marzolf has served as the BMI's Archivist since 2020. In this role, she stewards more than 4,500 linear feet of archival collections and a 5,000-volume research library documenting Maryland's rich industrial and labor history. She oversees the acquisition, preservation, digitization, and accessibility of the museum's archival collections while collaborating across exhibitions, public programs, and community engagement to bring these stories to life. Marzolf's work helps preserve and share the experiences of workers, industries, innovators, and communities that shaped Baltimore's past and continue to inform its future. Marzolf holds an MLIS from the University of Maryland, College Park and an M.A. in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University.