The First Fidelity Bank Collection of the Savings Bank of Baltimore and the Metropolitan Savings Bank, in collection SC 4313, and the Lexington Savings Bank story offer fascinating opportunities to explore the financial world of the African American in early Baltimore. The Savings Bank of  Baltimore was founded in 1818 "for the sole purpose of receiving and investing...such small sums of money, as may be saved from the earnings of tradesmen, mechanics, and others, and of affording in industrious people the twofold advantage of security and profit." 

In 1997, with the support of First Fidelity Bank, the Archives conducted an internship with five graduate students from local area colleges to process the records of the Savings Bank of Baltimore. Conceived in tandem with the Archives' Black Baltimore Project to study the financial, occupational and social lives of local United States Colored Troops, these records provide opportunities for African Americans to gain insight into their Maryland past. The collection consists of over one hundred bound volumes, photographs, and other materials. The  Savings Bank of Baltimore Collection, SC 4313, is processed into 70 series of which the following is an example: 

Series 3: Savings Bank of Baltimore, Signature Books, 1818-1918. Record of authorized signature of account holder made when the account was opened. Indicates account number and signature or mark. Records may also indicate race, age, marital status, address, occupation, birth date, and opening 

The Savings Bank Collection does carry the following restriction: Recent bank records, defined as materials less than 72 years old and relating to a living individual, are restricted from circulation. 

The tragic history of the Lexington Saving Bank revolves around the life of Everett J. Waring, lawyer and civic leader, who pioneered the founding of the first African American owned financial institution in Maryland and his struggle to maintain its solvency. 

African American bank records at the Archives offer additional resources and stimulation to those intrigued and motivated by the February 26th, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announcement of the online publication of over 480,000 digitized Freedman's Bank Records. 

On Monday, February 19, the Senate held its annual ceremony in celebration of George Washington's birthday in the Old Senate Chamber of the State House. The honored speaker this year was Senator Christopher Van Hollen whose topic was George Washington and the Potomac River. His remarks were based on a draft prepared for him by Ed Papenfuse and highlighted the important role that George Washington played in opening up the western lands by improving navigation on the Potomac River. The evening ceremony was highlighted by choral selections by the Southern Senior High School

In honor of the principles and standard of statesmanship followed by the longest surviving and only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, we not only meet today to bestow three First Citizen Awards, but also to give each of you an excellent new book on the family and fortune of Charles Carroll of Carrollton which your support of appropriations to the Archives has helped make possible. Entitled Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland, A Carroll Saga, 1500-1782, and written by noted Carroll scholar Dr. Ronald Hoffman, Director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, it is a sparkling account of an Irish American family's "unrelenting determination to triumph without compromising its loyalty to lineage and faith." 

While delving into the Irish origins of the Carrolls, the principal focus of Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland, is our First Citizen, the name by which Charles Carroll of Carrollton chose to sign several articles published in the Maryland Gazette beginning in February of 1773. Carroll, legally a non-citizen who could neither vote nor hold office because he was a Roman Catholic, wrote in response to an unsigned article by the best known lawyer of the day, Daniel Dulany. 

What began as a simple exchange of views published in the Maryland Gazette grew into a series of eight letters in which Charles Carroll not only had the last word but also began a public career that would not end for nearly another 60 years. As First Citizen, Carroll strongly defended an independent legislature. He was among the first to advance a new concept of government that soon would sweep through the colonies like wildfire. No longer would the people of America allow themselves to be ruled arbitrarily from abroad. 

While extolling traditional community rights and liberties, Carroll launched a call for a radical restructuring of government based on the advice

To Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the Constitution was not something fixed somewhere in the distant past, consisting of principles not to be altered, changed or improved upon, but was, rather, a set of guidelines to be written down, debated, and tested by time. To Carroll and others like his distant cousin Charles Carroll the Barrister, Samuel Chase, and William Paca, all future members of the Maryland Senate, making government work for the good of the whole meant a thoughtful reworking of the structure of government by writing it all down, debating the results, and crafting the final product in committees separately and of the whole. In effect, Carroll as First Citizen, saw government much as every citizen should see it today, in constant need of attention and thoughtful legislative action. 

Not only did Charles Carroll of Carrollton write as a 'First Citizen,' he also lived his life as a First Citizen. In addition to helping draft Maryland's first Constitution and signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Carroll served as a member of the Maryland Senate from 1777 to 1800, and as its president. He also was one of the first United States

Senators from Maryland and became one of the staunchest advocates of the B & O Railroad which did so much to further the economic development of the state.  Carroll taught by word and by example. He was willing to put his ideas, his fortune, and his time on the line in favor of better, more responsive government. It is in that spirit that the Maryland Senate presents the First Citizen Awards to individuals like Carroll, who have taken up the challenge to make government work better for the benefit of all. 

For the ninth time since 1992, I have the honor of presenting First Citizen Awards. 

The first is to Senator Barbara Hoffman. A member of the senate since 1982, Senator Hoffman was once referred to as the Accidental Senator, drawn reluctantly into the political arena through the mentorship of another recipient of the First Citizen Award, former Senator Rosalie Abrams. Known for her plain talk, toughness, and perspicacity, especially with regard to budgetary matters, Senator Hoffman is an outspoken proponent of carefully chosen initiatives for young children, and a strong advocate of meeting the needs of her less affluent constituents. She has even taken the time to ensure that the public share in one of her personal family treasures, a rare photograph of Baltimore's winning 1897 baseball team. For her profound dedication to her duties as a public servant and the wisdom with which they are performed, the Senate of Maryland rises in praise of Barbara Hoffman as a 'First Citizen' of Maryland. 

The second presentation is to Dr. Earl S. Richardson who, now in his 17th year as the 11th president of Morgan University, has skillfully led his institution to heights of academic excellence and nationally recognized distinction, while making the successful 

The third presentation is to Senator Robert Neall. Senator Neall has occupied a place of distinction on both sides of the aisle, devoting his boundless and creative energy to sound fiscal management, and more recently, to capital construction. Senator Neall has persistently demonstrated his talent for making the most of existing resources, including the appropriate recycling of a magnificent Tiffany dome, while at the same time keeping a close watch on the budget. His attention to detail is probably best characterized by the most recent image I have of him, on his hands and knees searching for that signature piece of the Great Seal mosaic in the new Miller Senate Building, the only piece among thousands that is intentionally upside down. In a sense, the creation of that masterful representation of the State Seal at Senator Neall's instigation and direction is symbolic of the care, the pride, and the delight that he takes in helping craft state government to the benefit of us all. Today,
the Senate of Maryland rises to salute Senator Robert Neall as a 'First Citizen' of Maryland. 

Chamber Choir of Harwood, Maryland, with Diana Martin as its director. 

Also important on the General Assembly's annual calendar are the First Citizen awards by the Senate and the Speaker's Medallions and Thomas Kennedy Award of the House of Delegates. The First Citizen awards were given this year to Senators Barbara A. Hoffman and Robert R. Neall, and Earl S. Richardson, president of Morgan State University. Ed Papenfuse made the presentations in the Senate Chamber on January 11, 2001 with remarks about the meaning of being a First Citizen. 

On March 1, the Speaker of the House, Casper R. Taylor, Jr. presented two Speaker's Medallions to: H. Furlong Baldwin, retiring chairman of Mercantile Bankshares Corporation, and Susan McCahan, who retired in December after 33 years of service to the House of Delegates. The Thomas Kennedy Award was given to former delegate Donald B. Robertson.