Presented by Hopkins at Home, Sheridan Libraries and Friends of the Johns Hopkins University Libraries

In honor of two landmark anniversaries—America’s semiquincentennial and Johns Hopkins University’s sesquicentennial—a virtual program on Early Marylandiana invites audiences to explore the rich and complex history of a young Maryland through the lens of rare primary sources.

Join Dr. Earle Havens, Nancy H. Hall Curator of Rare Books & Manuscripts and Director of the Virginia Fox Stern Center for the History of the Book at Johns Hopkins’ Sheridan Libraries, as well as post-doctoral and graduate student Stern Center Fellows, for a guided examination of rare books and manuscripts from the John Work Garrett Library at JHU’s Evergreen Museum & Library. These materials illuminate Maryland’s colonial foundations, its people, institutions, and everyday life, offering fresh perspectives on the region’s early past and its enduring legacy.

This conversation highlights how rare books, manuscripts, and archival fragments help historians reconstruct early American history—and why these materials remain vital to understanding where we’ve been as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary.