A Great Trip to the Maryland Historical Society

This summer, I visited the Maryland Historical Society. We were there to learn about their programs for schools and I really enjoyed walking around and exploring different exhibits while my supervisors talked with the Education Department. I wanted to share with you some of the the key takeaways I learned about during my visit.

When we first walked in, we noticed a new exhibit that was getting installed. It was the Spectrum of Fashion exhibit that just recently opened and is on view until October 2020 and features over 100 clothing items. It was really cool seeing an exhibit before it opened! We learned that there was going to be a fashion show and gala with Christian Siriano from Project Runway!

One of the things I found most interesting during our visit was their new Virtual Field Trip (VFT) feature. The Maryland Historical Society has these types of tours for schools who cant make it to the museum. VFTs are live interactive experiences that bring history directly into your classroom! It gives the students the chance to see and learn about objects without physically being there. They also have equipment to rent to the schools so they can have items in the classroom and is available to anyone who wants access. Their goal is to be able to give access to all of the state so they can learn about what’s going on at the museum and exhibits. It was really cool to be able to see how it all works and how museum staff can interact with students using technology!

The Maryland Historical Society also has traveling trunks. Traveling trunks are containers with different pieces of history, information, and lesson plans from the museum that fit into themes that are presented at the Maryland Historical Society. This is a great experience for kids because in the trunks have hands on activities and things they can experience and hold for themselves. These trunks can be shipped for a fee or teachers can also come pick them up to save money and can be held on to for 3 weeks.

There was so much to see and do at the Maryland Historical Society! There were artifacts paired with historical paintings, beautiful quilts from Hometown Girl: Contemporary Quilts of Mimi Dietrich, a great photography exhibit called Paul Henderson: Maryland’s Civil Rights Era in Photographs, ca. 1940-1960 and so much more! This is a great and fun place to learn about the history of Maryland where there is something for everyone from fashion to furniture and everything in between!