Viewing Baybrook

The tour of the Filbert Street Garden was exciting. I enjoyed seeing the amount of work the surrounding student put into the garden. I loved the stepping stones the elementary students created to outline the walkway through the garden along with the fence into the raised bed gardens. I am really excited to see the garden in the spring when some of the plants start to grow. I thought the idea of the rounded classroom gardens were a great idea along with the arms length and elbow length spacing to plant seeds. I think my favorite part of the garden tour was when Jason Reed told us about the strawberry patch and how the five worse students at the local middle school lead members of the community to create the patch. To me, that’s what the community is for.

When we walked down to the Polish Home Hall and explored the interior, I gained a better perspective of the area.  We walked down the street where we could see the townhomes in the area and we even saw some of the residents. The Polish Home Hall was gorgeous. The view from the second story really captured the impact the industrial companies had on the area. I was very interested to learn the brief history of the building, and was a little upset that it is currently vacant. As I was walking around in the building, I wondered if my Fiancés family has any connections to this building. I believe his Polish ancestors were in the Baltimore area around the 1920’s when the building became the Polish Home Hall. That is something I am definitely going to look into.  

Through our tour I was also able to see the Farring-Baybrook Park that I am researching. The view from the park was incredible.  It was a clear view of the Baltimore skyline.  I have started to look up historical articles on Farring-Baybrook Park in the Baltimore Sun, but I haven’t had much luck. I have found score records from baseball games and one murder-suicide that occurred near the park.  I am going to keep searching the Baltimore Sun for any more information. I have also checked the Baltimore county parks website which have very little information on the park. I have researched the Farring family, which has given me a lot of results. I now need to refine my search to focus on the information I want to find. Hopefully in my continuing search I find some piece of information that leads to a bigger picture of Farring-Baybrook Park. 

Adding Creativity

Meeting with the art students at UMBC was exciting. I got the feeling they are as excited to work on this project as we are While we were getting to know each other, they had great ideas as to how they would like to contribute to the project. Their help is going to be important to grab the attention of others.I am intrigued to see what they have in the way of T-Shirt designs as well as any additional ideas they may have as to getting the community interested in our project. I think it would be great if the art students were able to create something to reflect the history of Baybrook.

Reading the oral histories in Baybrook got me more excited for this project. I would love to hear from the community and learn more about what they area use to be. In the Baltimore 68 article, I really thought the button that said "Ask me, I was there!" was a great idea. We discussed doing something similar with the art student. I think its important that we allow the residents of the area to voice their memories and stories to keep the history alive.

Envisioning Research in Baybrook

As I learn more about the area of Baybrook I become interested in the history of the area.  However, I am also interested in the things affecting the area. I think looking into what is causing pollution in the area is where I envision my research topic.  I would like to focus on the incinerators in the surrounding areas or find out more about the dumping and waste issues.

We were handed a 1945 newspaper from the Baltimore Sun Thursday in class. As I read these articles of the pollution from the plants, I became concerned for the people who lived in this area. I wondered what happened after this article arose in the Baltimore Sun. Reading the article made me want to explore the history of these events to see what has been done, but also to look now and see the dangers that may be prevalent in the community today. I think by exploring either the incinerators or the dumping and waste issues I will have a better idea as to what the dangers are and even possibly how to start changing them. 

Social Mission

Our social mission for American Studies 422 is to work with the community of Baybrook to create a space for the community to come together. Our mission also includes creating awareness of issues affecting the community and learn the history of the area.

Our goal is to work together as a class to create a successful fundraiser in support of the Filbert Street Community Garden. The garden should create an educational space for the surrounding community as well as provide fresh produce.  Our class is diverse enough that I believe we will be able to create a way to make a difference. I believe through our journey to help this community we will learn different skills that will be of use beyond our college experience.