Directory of the Baltimore Legal Museum

Post #2

Domonique Flowers

In October my main objective for the project was to utilize the pictures of the different parts of the museum and to take even more pictures of each of the main artifacts and collection pieces to use in the directory. Unfortunately, due to renovations and new features being added, the Legal Museum was temporarily closed for two weeks which forced me to switch gears a bit. Instead my focus for October would be twofold. First, I wanted to identify the sources I would use to create the narrative history behind the museum, that would be included in the directory. One of the main sources I used was “The Guide Book of the Clarence Mitchell Jr. Courthouse,” which was provided to me when I first became a museum docent. Another source I used was “Celebrating a Century of Service,” which was a publication commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the Clarence Mitchell Jr. Courthouse.

The second objective for October was to utilize the pictures that I had taken of the museum in September to begin classifying the main attractions. Some of the main ones included a 19^th Century grandfather clock that predated the courthouse, the copper drum used to select Baltimore City Jurors until 1960, the painting entitled “British Surrender of Yorktown,” by French muralist Jean-Paul Laurens and the 1885 Court of Appeals decision allowing African American men to practice law in Maryland. In addition to the artifacts and exhibit items, the directory would also contain profiles of the famous legal professionals who were featured in the museum. I assembled the list of individuals I would use and worked on their profiles. These included Thurgood Marshall, the first African American US Supreme Court Justice as well as Etta Haynie Maddox, the first woman admitted to the Bar of Maryland in 1902. I also began to organize the different displays based on the categories that I identified in September. Two of the main displays included the display of English Common Law as well as the display showing the history of the Baltimore Bar Association. The museum re-opened at the end of the month and even hosted a re-dedication ceremony to celebrate all the new updates added. I was unfortunately unable to attend due to a prior commitment though I did obtain a copy of the program in the Daily Record. I also looked forward to returning and discovering what new surprises and features awaited me.