Along with the full class schedule, each student selects an independent research topic, usually from a list provided by MESDA's staff, prepares a paper, and finally presents it to the class and staff. My paper investigated a newly accessioned miniature chest with a recent provenance in Sharpsburg, MD. Within the tight time constraints information was extremely limited, but I was able to identify construction techniques, probable cultural influences as well as Old World antecedents. 

The intensive time schedule had us selecting research topics on the second day, and submitting a preliminary bibliography and outline on the fifth day. With one week for field trips, we only had two weeks in which to research and write the paper. To facilitate the process, the museum extended its hours to 7:30 p.m., leaving us with a scant 2.5 hours each day for research. We found ourselves jockeying for positions on the copy machine, computer terminals, and microfilm readers. 

The field trips encompassed a much larger geographical area than anticipated, and subjected us to long hours, sometimes well into the dark hours of the night. The first trek out of Salem took our group to the potters of the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, where we met Charles Zug, Professor of Folklore at UNC Chapel Hill. The next day we traveled to Harrisonburg, VA, stopping along the way in Ferrum, VA, to view the decorative arts collections of J. Roderick Moore of the Blue Ridge Institute. We spent the afternoon with Beverly and Jeff Evans of Evans Auctioneers to tour the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, and to view their private collection of quilts. 

The next stop found us in the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown to tour the museum and to hear H. E Comstock talk about Shenandoah Valley decorative arts. 

After four days of clouds and rain and cold, 
We bounded out of bed at four-thirty, 
The alarm having failed to work on time. 
I groped across the room and pulled aside 
The curtain; yes! The day was bright and clear. 
A half an hour later we had wound 
Around the five mile road of the ascent 
Of Cadillac, the highest mountaintop 
Upon the east coast; not a place to miss 
For people who appreciate sunrise. 
And even as we drove across the lot 
Just moments ere the sun peeked from the cloud 
That was its bedclothes, young Apollo waved 
And smiled at us, a camera in his hands, 
Returning to his car to get more film. 
We stood upon the mountain's eastern slope, 
A freezing wind tormenting us; the sun, 
The sun was rising, and his long sought light 
Suffused the barren stone and sparse spruce trees, 
The sparkling bay and misty Schoodic Head. 
A voice came from behind us. "Do you mind 
If I take a few pictures of you two?" 
Apollo had returned; the lad explained 
That he was studying effects of light 
In photographs, for class. And so we posed, 
My wife and I, upon that summit's brow, 
Two thoughts joined arm in arm. Ascending still, 
The glorious divinity revealed 
Himself before us, circled by his robes 
Of rainbow effulgence; as he eclipsed 
The earth, the wind became his clarion 
And woke us to ourselves. As we drove back 
To town, we saw that cheerful youth once more, 
His camera full of images; and waved, 
As though he and ourselves were oldest friends. 
 
 
 
 

ANNAPOLIS MAYOR AND ALDERMEN 
    (Minutes) 1982-2002 [MSA T2447] 
    (Ordinances and Resolutions) 1997-1999[MSA T2389] 

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY REGISTER  OF WILLS 
    (Wills, Original) 1876-1969 [MSA T1700] 

BALTIMORE CITY CIRCUIT COURT 
    (Block Book), 1926-1953 [MSA T1674] 
    (Election Returns) 1923-1984 [MSA T3346] 
    (Plat Book) 1881-1974 [MSA T1676] 

CALVERT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT 
    (Land Records) 1883-1972 [MSA T2911] 
    (Paternity Papers) 1963-1989 [MSA T3600] 

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY  CIRCUIT COURT 
    (Domestic Relations Papers), 1976-1978 [MSA T1460]