These stories are researched and told by the Rev. Rovan Wernsdorfer, a Hopkins educated former Episcopal priest and long-time activist. For over 20 years Rovan has taught Baltimore's White history to tour groups at the City's historic Greenmount Cemetery.
Then he learned that Baltimore was also home to the largest FREE Black community in the country, even before the Civil War. This was a powerful community surviving and building in the face of relentless institutional racism. His stories describe some of the major themes between Blacks and Whites in Baltimore, and the legacy of Black achievement that came out of that struggle.
Rovan Wernsdorfer died March 9, 2023
Tour of Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery (1:54:49)
Green Mount was opened in 1839 with a new "Garden Cemetery" or suburban design to help Baltimore deal with pandemics. Within its walls are buried some of Baltimore's most prominent citizens. As we visit each selected grave in this video, stories are told about that person which expand our knowledge of the importance of the City, including its significant "firsts" (railroading, public libraries, mass newspapers, medical education, etc.) references to its racial history (the enforcement of White supremacy) and the impact of a few feminist heroines. No place captures Baltimore's rich history like the collective stories associated with Green Mount!
The Lost Cause and White Supremacy - Part 1 (12:41)
The Lost Cause Comes to Maryland - Part 2 (12:27)
Creation of Baltimore's Free Black Community and the 2nd Middle Passage (28:42)
,The 2nd Middle Passage refers to the removal of 1.2 million enslaved African Americans from the Chesapeake region to the deep south.
The Haitian Revolution's Effects on Baltimore (27:17)
Colonization in Baltimore (28:31)
Slave Trading in Baltimore (39:03)
African American Churches in Baltimore (30:20)
Immigration in Baltimore and the Construction of Whiteness (34:36)
Baltimore's Great Fire of 1904 and "Progressive" Scientific Racism (38:58)
Effects of the Cold War on the Civil Rights Movement (37:34)