News and notes from



Download 12.14 Mb.
Page46/52
Date15.03.2018
Size12.14 Mb.
#43051
1   ...   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   ...   52


News and Notes




Historic Marietta at Glenn Dale, Maryland


Headquarters of the Prince George's County Historical Society

Vol. XVII, No. 6 June 1989


THE JUNE PROGRAM will be held on June 10th, at Darnall's Chance, 2:00 PM. Our speaker will be Harris Andrews, an editor of the Time‑Life Series on the Civil War. His topic is to be, "Prince George's County Volunteers in the Army of Northern Virginia."
Mr. Andrews is, Vice‑President Mrs. Joyce McDonald notes, an expert on Civil War uniforms and on the history of the Civil War.
This meeting will be our final one for the summer. As usual, the Prince George's Historical Society, will not meet in July or August. Meetings will resume in September.
In Memoriam Donald D. Skarda 1918 ‑1989
We regret to inform our members of the death of Donald D. Skarda, Treasurer of the Prince George's Historical Society since 1987 and a member of the Society for many years. He had undergone surgery in late April and passed away in Doctor's Hospital, Lanham, on Sunday, May 21, 1989.
Born in Wisconsin, Donald Skarda was a retired employee of the Department of Defense. In 1979 he received the Society's Saint George's Day award for his Bicentennial publication, Berwyn Heights: History of a Small Maryland Town. His articles and news notes were a valuable addition to many issues of News and Notes.
A memorial service was held in Gasch's Funeral Home and private interment took place Thursday, May 25, in Arlington National Cemetery. The family requested that contributions be made to the Prince George's County Historical Society.
Don is survived by his wife Alice, a daughter and son‑in‑law, Carol Ann and Wiley Larson, and a grandson, Kiley E. G. Larson.
The Society extends sympathy to the family.


Post Office Box 14 Riverdale, Maryland 20737 301/464‑0590

MAY MEETING AND GAMES DAY, due to rain on the originally scheduled Games Day, overlapped on May 6th. Marietta was a busy mansion and persons, young and slightly older, peopled every corner of the house and garden.
A Copy of SAMUEL SNOWDEN'S WILL, recently presented to the Prince George's Historical Society, was acknowledged by President Bud Dutton in a letter of thanks to Morris Warren.
MARIETTA LEASE is under study by the Society's Board of Directors, President Bud Dutton notes. In a meeting at Marietta, the Society's headquarters, on May 15th, the Board of Directors discussed the lease the Society now has with the Maryland National Park and Planning Commission and future plans.
DOCENTS NEEDED. Docents are needed for the lively and varied tasks associated with Marietta and with the Gift Shop. If you like to meet new people and talk about County history, get in touch with Joyce McDonald to volunteer some time 779‑5825.
HOPKINS ATLAS OF PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY is now available, President Dutton advises. The Atlas, first published in 1878, has been republished by the Prince George's Historical Society. This valuable book is available to members (first copy) at $3.00 each; and at Marietta on sale to the public at $5.00 each.
FUTURE PLANS of the Prince George's County Historical Society include, President Dutton notes, not only current work with preservation and library projects, but the development of an oral history project, an expansion of library hours and the development of a capsule history of the County.
Sarah Moseley is at work on an attractive brochure for the Society. These brochures will be used to disseminate information about our work and to introduce potential members to the Society. About 5,000 copies will be printed.
21ST ANTIQUE SHOW HELD. A quite unique "happening" took place at Horn Point near Cambridge, Maryland, Saturday May 19th. The event was sponsored by the Dorchester Heritage Museum, located on the Horn Point Aerodrome, and by the Potomac Antique Aero Squadron, in cooperation with the University of Maryland. It was the "21st Annual Antique Fly‑In," Society member Vera Rollo reports.
Scores of aircraft flew out of the past and onto the grassy runways of the former du Pont estate airfield. There were biplanes and mono‑planes. There were tiny ultra‑light "vehicles," as they are called, and even one twin‑engined aircraft.
The weather was perfect for the event. Indeed, so many aircraft arrived that the perspiring gentlemen in charge of directing traffic were hard put to find enough parking spaces for them. They did an excellent job, however, and scores of aircraft, hundreds of on‑lookers were accommodated. Among the audience were many small, awed, children and friendly dogs.

Many persons aged around 60 and over, avidly roamed the flight lines. You could see their eyes light up as they recognized their old aircraft types ‑‑‑ a Piper Cub, a Stinson Voyager, Stearman PT‑17s used in World War II training, Wacos, and more.


THE HISTORY OF HORN POINT AERODROME in Cambridge, Maryland, is linked with that of the du Pont family. In 1937, Francis du Pont bought a Stinson Reliant and had an airport constructed with hangars and a pilot's residence adjacent to the three runways.

To create a constant hard landing surface, excavation and tile drainage assured the best sod strip in the area. During World War II, the airport was used by student pilots for landing practice.


The University of Maryland's Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies now operates the estate. The du Pont family made the estate available to the University. The building that was once Mr. du Pont's hangar is now the Dorchester Heritage Museum.
JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL celebrates its 100th birthday this year. The festivities will honor the institution's founders‑‑pathologist William Welch, surgeon William Stewart Halsted, gynecologist Howard Kelly, and internist and teacher William Osler.
The physicians and scientists who served in East Baltimore pioneered the use of rubber gloves and X‑rays in surgery; discovered the vitamin D and B complexes, adrenalin, and the anti‑clotting drug hepariun; developed the "blue baby" heart surgery, the radical mastectomy, and CPR, among hundreds of other medical advances.
With 2,440 doctors on the faculty at the School of Medicine and more than half a million patient visits to the hospital each year, Hopkins has come a long way from its original 220‑bed facility and its 36 faculty and students. A private room one hundred years ago cost $3 a day. Today, the average cost is $326, over 100 times as much.
Source: February 1989 Warfield's, p. 86.
HISTORIC FARM IN BOWIE is said to be slated for development. According to an article in the Prince George's Journal, March 3, 1989, page one, Eugene Roberts, Jr., owner of Fairwood Turf Farm has agreed to develop the 1,100‑acre farm with the Rouse Company.
A planned community is slated for the Route 50 site. "Because it's increasingly difficult to farm in a suburban area, we really have to face the future," Mr. Roberts said.
HIGHER EDUCATION IN COLONIAL MARYLAND, contributed by Paul Lanham.
"The people of Prince George's County were liberal in their support of St. John's College, the college for the Western Shore of Maryland, authorized by the General Assembly at its session in November, 1784. When the vote was cast for the location of the college, however, Upper Marlborough received two votes and Annapolis, nine. These nine voters were no doubt influenced by the fact that the General Assembly offered the unfinished governor's palace, known as 'Bladen's Folly,' and the four acres upon which it stood, for the use of the school, if Annapolis were selected."
The college opened on November 11, 1789 with sixteen students. On November 28, 1793, Bachelor of Arts degrees were conferred upon two students, one of whom was John Addison Carr of Prince George's County. One year later, five degrees were awarded, one going to John Bowie Duckett, and it was regretted that Alexander Contee Magruder had been precluded by sickness from being included in the listing of County graduates at that time.
‑‑‑‑‑‑ Prince George's Heritage by Louise Joyner Hienton, 1972, p. 205.


Download 12.14 Mb.

Share with your friends:
1   ...   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   ...   52




The database is protected by copyright ©ininet.org 2024
send message

    Main page