A Journey Through Hollins

“I love the history… It’s a lot of stories here and a lot of history. I think that it would be beautiful if we can document all of this history or find ways of just going back and documenting the past 40 years.”
— Curtis Eaddy
Events and Marketing Manager, Southwest Partnership

A Journey Through Hollins was a free, public event hosted by UMBC students in the “Preserving Places, Making Spaces in Baltimore” public humanities course taught at the university’s downtown classroom in the Lion Brothers Building. At 2pm on Saturday, May 12 students hosted an open house & zine release + Story Map website debut. At 3pm guests departed for a walking tour of the neighborhood led by Curtis Eaddy of the Southwest Partnership. The tour ended at 1116 Hollins Street for an open mic at Hollins Place, a new restaurant that recently opened in the neighborhood.

During the spring 2018 semester, students read about and researched the history of the area. Each student researched a specific decade using local newspapers, such as the Baltimore Sun, Afro-American, and Jewish Times, and pieced together a narrative. Students went on a walking tour of the neighborhood led by Curtis Eaddy before choosing a historic building to research using newspapers, deeds, as well as archival research and photos. Students wrote profiles on past vendors or current entrepreneurs in the area for the Stories of Sowebo newspaper. The newspaper was part of artist Malaika Clements’ Neighbor Lights programming in Hollins Market on Friday, April 6. The Light City newspaper and the zine for our event were both designed by Markele Cullins (Visual Arts, UMBC).

Back (left): Curtis Eaddy (Southwest Partnership), Liz Ridinger (B.A. American Studies), Zachary Utz (M.A. Historical Studies – Public History), DeAndre Bright (B.A. American Studies, Education), Jonathan Portuesi (B.S. Biological Sciences & Entrepreneurship minor), Anthony Portuesi (B.S. Biological Sciences & Entrepreneurship minor), Jameka Wiggins (Chemical Engineering), Terece Young (B.A. American Studies & Sociology) Front (left): Sydney McCain (B.A. American Studies, Education), Elizabeth Piet (B.A. American Studies, Education), Lia Adams (M.A. Applied Sociology), Professor Nicole King (American Studies)

After Light City (and spring break), student research shifted to attending events and interviewing local residents and business owners about their memories and feeling about how the neighborhood is changing for the zine. Students also focused planning the end-of-the-semester event to share their research with the public. For more info email nking@umbc.edu.

A digital version of the zine is available here.