Research Visit: Baltimore

Over Spring Break this year I decided to take a road trip to Baltimore.  I am working on a couple of stories that center on the area and I was looking forward to actually meeting many of the people I had been corresponding with as part of this work. 
 

First I met with Darnell Davis, a 98 year-old former fire fighter in Baltimore.  He was as sharp as a tack an could not have been more proud of his service.  He shared his life with me and I could have spent all day with him. 





Next, I went to the Smokestack Hardy Folk Museum.  Arthur P. Hardy, also known as Smokestack Hardy, was one of the first African Americans to be a part of the Baltimore Fire Department.  He and Darnell were close friends.  

The museum is run by Hardy's nephew, Guy Cephas.  





The museum was filled with memorabilia Hardy had collected as well as tons of photographs that Hardy took.  Many of the photographs were on the scene of some of the biggest fires in Baltimore's history.  

Davis, Hardy and fellow fire fighters circa 1950's.

Cephas and I in front of the museum.

My next stop was the fire station that was named after Smokestack.  The station, located in Hardy's old neighborhood.

My last stop in Baltimore was the Maryland Fire Museum.

The Fire Museum had one of these 'running boards' that was used in each fire house to track equipment around the city.

 The tool on the left was a 'bed key.'  I was curious why on earth one of these would be in a fire museum.  I learned that beds in early colonial times were seen as so valuable that they were to be taken apart and passed out of the windows if possible.  

The tool on the right is a 'rattle.'  Early on, young boys would run down the street to alert the volunteers when a fire started in town.  The rattles were spun and 'clacked' with a loud staccato sound.

 I love this early volunteer fire engine.  The color is right.  Is was called 'pumpkin.'  The black metal elements were pulled up and down to create the pressure that pushed the water to the hoses that were used to put out the fire.

  
These leather buckets were initially kept in homes.  When a fire started, families would scoop water from their cisterns and run them to the steam boilers. 



I had the chance to meet both the director of the museum and the historian.  She was a tremendous help with 'next steps' for me.  I learned about several more organizations that are going to be very helpful for me with my research.