"Life, Liberty, and Opportunity: The Struggle for Freedom in Tidewater Maryland, 1634-1865"

June 19-24 and June 26-July 1, 2005

A National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Landmarks of American History Program

Facilities

St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) was established in 1840 and evolved into a four-year public liberal arts college in 1967. In 1992, the Maryland General Assembly designated SMCM the state's Honors College in recognition of its status as a leading public liberal arts college. It is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and is regulated by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. 

An autonomous Board of Trustees, nominated by the College and appointed by the governor, directs policy for the College.  The College offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in 22 academic majors representing arts and letters, social sciences, human development, natural science, and mathematics.  Total enrollment in fall 2004 was 1,934 students.

NEH Landmarks Workshop participants will have full access to the College's academic and recreational facilities. The library (1998, renovation) houses 190,000 items including approximately 149,300 bound volumes (books), of which approximately 124,000 are for the humanities, periodicals, videos, DVDs, and microforms. The library's Maryland Collection includes books and documents on the state’s history and culture. Computer workstations and wireless laptops provide access to the library's on-line catalog and over 50 research data bases including the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) which allows access to resources and electronic data bases shared by schools all over the state. A variety of meeting spaces are available to accompany large and small groups. Workshop classroom activities will take place in Kent Hall (2001, renovation) which houses the Division of History and Social Science. With dramatic window views of the St. Mary’s River, Kent Hall has state-of-art “smart” classrooms with high speed Internet access and projection capabilities. 

All NEH Landmarks participants will be housed in the College's townhouse complex for upper division students, situated overlooking the wide horseshoe bay of the St. Mary's River. These modern two-bedroom units include a full kitchen, living room, dining room, patio and bathroom, as well as phone, cable TV connection, and high speed Internet access. Meals and social activities will take place in the campus center (2000, new), which has a full-service cafeteria, a grill, a Starbucks café, a bookstore, and a cinema. The lodging and dining fee for participants is $55 per day, including three meals.  At no extra cost, participants will enjoy a welcome reception and picnic aboard the 17th-century sailing ship Maryland Dove and a cruise on the historic skipjack Dee of St. Mary’s.

An athletic facility (2004, new) with two indoor swimming pools, basketball and tennis courts, as well as workout equipment will also be open. Participants will be issued temporary ID cards and have full use of the College library, athletic facilities, and campus center, and may check out kayaks and sailboats at the waterfront. Additionally, since the participants will be housed within walking distance of Historic St. Mary's City, participants will also have access to the historic trails, archaeological sites, and the museum should they desire further study after the day’s planned activities are completed.

Historic St. Mary's City (HSMC) is an internationally regarded museum of history and archaeology accredited by the American Association of Museums. It has sponsored historical and archaeological research about colonial Maryland for more than thirty years in publications by Lois Green Carr and her colleagues David W. Jordan, Russell Menard, and Lorena Walsh, and by Henry M. Miller, Timothy P. Riordan, Silas Hurry, and Garry Wheeler Stone.  Active archaeological research during the summer of 2005 will focus on the 17th-century inn operated by Garrett Vansweringen.

In support of their affiliation for education, preservation, and research, HSMC and SMCM hold twelve hundred acres of land along the banks of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac River near its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay. The Center for the Study of Democracy is a joint endeavor. HSMC and the College are also working together to create an interpretive exhibit building at the site of the manor house in which the early Maryland Assembly regularly met. A fundraising campaign, helped by a $300,000 appropriation from the U.S. Congress in 2003 to reconstruct the Brick Chapel of 1667, will complement the reconstructed 1676 Maryland State House.