The first phase of the project entailed the collection of information on the First Ladies and Hostesses already published in the secondary sources found in the Archives' Library. This research proved fruitful not only for biographical facts, but also for pictorial renderings of the women. So far, I have discovered several portraits of the first ladies, including Ann Jennings Johnson, Elizabeth Greenbury Goldsborough, Margaret Oswald Chew Howard, and Elizabeth Tasker Lowndes. If high-quality photo recreations can be obtained, these images will make splendid additions to any subsequent publication on Maryland First Ladies and Official Hostesses. Also consulted were the Archives' Legislative History Project files which contain a wealth of biographical information on the Governors' lives and families. This previous research proved valuable for filling in basic gaps in the women's lives, such as birth and death dates, parents' names, and family homes.
The secondary sources and the Legislative History Project files provided a foundation for delving into the primary source material available at the Archives. To this point, I have searched through vital records to obtain birth, death, and marriage certificates for the women. Also, I have started to read newspapers from the period (such as The Annapolis Advertiser and the Evening Capital). In addition, I have consulted the Archives' Special Collections for sources, such as the Warfield Scrapbooks, which contain volumes of newspaper clippings on the governor and his family.
Even after the short period of ten weeks, I have uncovered many wonderful anecdotes about these fascinating women that would have never been apparent from the scant biographical notes currently published about them. For instance, Emma Nicodemus Warfield was an accomplished horseback rider, and she competed in numerous shows throughout Howard County. Edna Viola Amos Nice and her husband Governor Harry Nice enjoyed motoring together. Because the governor never learned to drive, Mrs. Nice acted as the chauffeur on their trips. The couple visited every state in the union, as well as Canada and Mexico. During her service as First Lady, Esther Winder Polk Lowe took a tour of the penitentiary in Baltimore and came upon a young, friendless man who had been imprisoned for stealing books. She reasoned that "like the poor steal a loaf of bread to sustain corporal life, he may have hungered for mental sustenance and yielded to temptation" causing him to take the books. Mrs. Lowe reported the situation to the governor who ordered an investigation. As a result the young man was pardoned and sent home to his family in Canada.
The biographical research uncovered information pertaining to the governors' residences throughout the state's history. This pursuit has brought to light many interesting details about Government House, in particular. For example, in 1912, Ellen Showell Goldsborough reinstated the custom of holding an official reception at Government House every Thursday. This regular opportunity to call on the Governor's wife had been discontinued during Governor Austin Crothers' term, since Crothers was a bachelor and his Official Hostesses, Miss Lynn M. Shaffer, also held the office of State Librarian. In a similar vein, it was the "gracious hostess" Dorothy Byron Lane who first opened up the house to touring groups. As a fitting tribute to these women, Helen Avalynne Tawes commissioned portraits of several Maryland First Ladies to recognize their service to the state and honor their individual accomplishments. These images grace the walls of Government House today.
Overall, the project is proceeding very well. I have received the utmost cooperation from my co-workers, especially Elaine Rice and Rocky Rockefeller. I personally feel honored to be involved in the creation of this valuable addition to Maryland History, and I must confess that I am already quite attached to these fascinating women. Finding myself unable to abandon them at the conclusion of the summer, I have decided to continue my internship during the school year and to write my Master's Thesis on these worthy daughters of Maryland.
Our initial task was to prepare the collection for transport to the Archives. Before moving the collection, the records needed to be cleaned, wrapped in Tyvek, and processed. Although the books were "not as bad as large dead fish," it was a formidable endeavor. The warehouse was dusty, hot, and it lacked air conditioning; each of the deposit ledgers (SC 4313-9-1 to 232) weighed more than a small child or a large dog. We spent four and a half weeks in this Dantesque place, vacuuming, brushing, and cutting Tyvek and Velcro to protect the volumes. Also, all the loose papers had to be put in clamshells.
Much to our relief, Nancy brought us ice cream several times (we wish she would bring us some more)! There were other lighter moments, as well as lighter books, particularly when Clare found a letter from a vaudeville house advertising "The Best Three Night Stand in New England, Catering Especially to Women and Children and Backed by Money, Brains, and Experience." We finally finished the first phase of processing and gratefully relocated to the air-conditioned comfort of the Archives.
We are now involved in the second phase of the project. You may have seen us lugging our now spotless and neatly wrapped deposit ledgers to and from the third deck. We are continuing the research from the last two summers on the United States Colored Troops and the African-American community in Baltimore after the Civil War, which has been generously funded by the Maryland Historical Trust. This summer we are looking at the community through their financial records, since the Savings Bank of Baltimore was the focus of African-American veterans' deposits.
By searching through indices to the deposit ledgers, we are attempting to locate accounts belonging to USCT veterans. We set up two databases: one to record the individual account numbers, and another to record account transactions. We made sure an account number belonged to a veteran. One method of verification involved matching an address in the signature book, where the depositor signed for an account, with one in a census record or Baltimore City directory. Sometimes we were lucky, and found that a soldier gave his regiment and company as an address in the signature book. After verifying that the account holders were USCT veterans, we recorded their individual account transactions from the deposit ledgers. When we finish, we hope to have a better idea of the community's savings and cash flow through its members' banking records.
One last piece of business. We want to award the first annual Cool Archives Employee Award to Wilder Stewart, for bringing back the books from the warehouse and for lending us his tape gun. Congratulations, Wilder!
On NET2, the SETTLERS and ALPLATS files were updated. Carson Gibb has made considerable additions to his SC4341 database detailing names of immigrants in patent records which were not included in the Early Settlers publication by Gust Skordas. The ALPLATS file includes the most current information on Allegany County Circuit Court plats maintained at the Archives. Much editorial work has been done on this database since it was last wordcrunched. This file includes descriptions, references, recordation dates, citations, locations, film numbers, and sizes for all Allegany County plats that have been processed.
At the start, things did not appear to be favorable for the Archives, as only ten, instead of the usual compliment of eleven players showed up to play on the elysian fields of Annapolis Junior High. But the offense which slugged out 18 runs in the final game of the regular season showed up in full force. Steve "Say Hey" Bennett's triple drove in both Tim "Trouble" Siekierka and Bill "The Thrill" Bodziak for the first two runs of the game and sent a strong message to McCrone that the Archives had come to win. Gus "Anvil" Andujar then doubled to right, driving in "Say Hey" for the third run of the first inning. McCrone responded with four runs in their half of the first inning as the Archives defense could not get settled. After losing that brief lead, the famed "Bottom-of-the-Order" gang ignited a rally with consecutive singles by Dana "Demon" Grogan and Arian "Barbarian" Ravanbakhsh. Chuck "Mr. Style" Bodziak and "Trouble" also followed with singles, leaving the bases loaded for "Thrill" Bodziak. Just like the previous game against Harms, "Thrill" launched a deep fly ball to the outfield for another, now not so rare, two-RBI sacrifice fly.
"Wild" Bill Bodziak, whose pitching prowess was still not able to calm McCrone's bats, then decided to speak loudly with his own bat as he launched a double to left field. Gus "Anvil" followed with another RBI single and extended the lead to 7-5. McCrone then scored two in both the third and fourth innings to take a 9-7 lead. Before McCrone could celebrate, the Archives stormed back on a double from "Thrill" and a single by "Say Hey". "Wild" Bill then sent another line drive deep into left field which went for a triple. "Anvil" followed that with his third consecutive RBI hit as the Archives seized a 10-9 lead. Both teams continued to play solid defense as McCrone pushed a run across the plate in the sixth inning and retied the game at ten.
What was then evident to the gathered throng of supporters; Shirley "Wave" Bodziak, Betsy "Nerves Of" Steele, Frank "Terror" Toves, and Reggie "Radar" Davis was that this game was going to be a classic one to remember. That impression was then confirmed by the presence of Chris "Hurricane" Haley who brought his own brand of excitement to the game. Perhaps boosted by "Hurricane's" rendition of the classic, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", "Wild" Bill smashed yet another triple to left, causing the coaching staff of Doug "Louisville Slugger" McElrath and "Barbarian" to seriously consider the purchase of oxygen tanks for future contests. "Anvil" then drove in his fourth run of the game with a ground out and the Archives held a one run lead. McCrone tied the game in bottom of the seventh as they were being serenaded with Hurricane's rendition of "One is the Loneliest Number."
After seven innings, the score was tied at 11 and the tension was increasing to almost uncharted levels. "Mr. Style", "Trouble" and "Thrill" all singled in the eighth loading the bases. "Wild" Bill then lined a single to right and ended up on third base after McCrone finished throwing the ball beyond the reach of their fielders. Gus "Anvil" followed that up with a sharply hit single and for the fifth consecutive at bat drove in a run. The Archives led 15-11 and took the field for the bottom of the eighth.
McCrone started by hitting the ball hard off the now tired ace of the pitching staff "Wild" Bill. However the rally was squashed on a major league caliber throw from "Say Hey" Bennett in deep left to "Wild" Bill covering home and tagging out a greedy McCrone runner attempting to score. After that McCrone knew they were only bound to fail. In the ninth, one runner managed to get to first, only to be erased on a game-ending double play, from pitcher "Wild" Bill to shortstop "Mr. Style" and on to first baseman "Barbarian". Thus concluded the most thrilling contest of this softball season.
Game honors go to Gus "Anvil" Andujar for his amazing run of five at-bats and five RBI's, Bill "Thrill" Bodziak for his perfect 4 for 4 (three doubles) night at the plate, and "Wild" Bill Bodziak for not only his devious pitching but for his 4 for 5 night with a double and two triples and four runs scored.
On August 16 the 1995 Archives softball season came to a conclusion with a not surprising 20-6 defeat at the hands of Crownsville in the league semifinal. The team from Crownsville was clearly loaded with players of superior talent and the Archives team was short several regulars and could only field nine players.
Things did not start on the best of notes, with a heated discussion erupting over the ball that the Crownsvillians were attempting to use. Recall that when the Archives played Crownsville in the regular season, our expert investigator, "Wild" Bill Bodziak recognized that Crownsville was using an illegal, high-compression softball. They attempted to use the same type of ball in this game, but we were prepared for that nefarious ploy and would not allow the game to proceed with the illegal ball. After a rather lengthy dispute, which only served to illustrate Crownsville's unsportsmanlike conduct, they relented and the official league ball was used.
Unfortunately, that alone was not enough to derail the Crownsville offense which easily exploited the Archives shorthanded defense for 13 runs in three innings. After that, the final result was never in doubt and the fans who attended, Shirley "Wave" Bodziak and Heather "Howler" Ravanbakhsh knew the end of the season was near. Highlights for the Archives include Bill "Thrill" Bodziak's home run in the first inning as he started his perfect 4 for 4 day at the plate and Steve "Say Hey" Bennett's two hits that drove in 4 runs. Special mention for emergency service as catcher goes to Betsy "Nerves of" Steele who was impressed into the game because of the shortage of players.
After the game, the weary players and fans retired to the bastion of cheap pizza, Piezano's Restaurant for the annual end of season awards banquet. Players cited for special recognition were: "Wild" Bill Bodziak - "Sherlock Holmes" investigative award for uncovering the Crownsville illegal ball; Dana "Demon" Grogan - "Don't Tread on Me" award for never being intimidated; Doug "Louisville Slugger" McElrath - "Earl Weaver" award for dedicated service as coach; Steve "Say Hey" Bennett - Rookie of the Year, with honorable mentions going to Rob "Razor" Gentry, Tim "Trouble" Siekierka, and Mariana "Menace" Toves; Chuck "Mr. Style" Bodziak - Most Improved Player; "Say Hey" Bennett and Bill "Thrill" Bodziak - "Hammerin' Hank" award for leading the team with three home runs each; and Chuck "Mr. Style" Bodziak who was recognized as this season most valuable player.
For the season, the Archives team finishes with a record of 5 wins and 6 loses. That record is somewhat deceptive, because for the second consecutive season, the Archives lost its final game in the league semifinal. Next April, we will reconvene for another year of athletic triumphs in pursuit of a championship. Until then, in the words of the old Brooklyn faithful, "Wait 'Til Next Year."
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