#baltimore history

[wylanzahn]

New-ish post, kinda posting this on different platforms and getting a general vibe check for some ideas I have. But basically this Halloween I want to actually do something for the TTRPG and Actualplay world (oh yeah I’m into those kinds of things). I want to try and get both players, GMs, and casual viewers alike something fun to look forward to this especially spooky season. I’ll probably talk a little more when we get closer to the actual season of scare-giving but just know that if you’re interested I’m still looking for people to join in!!

As my team and I’d first debut we’re going to try and do a two to four session actual play, which will probably be released in the weeks leading up to Halloween. We’ve had a couple good friend way in on the matter of “setting” but now I come to you fine folk. Mind you this is a horror campaign/arc so if…

Isn’t your thing, keep on a moving.

But without further ado here are a couple of the possible settings for our players, and myself, this coming espookee season…

1.) Somewhere off the coast of Florida, 1926 end of the first major housing boom in the state, a small island which calls back to the Spanish Empire, is Isla Boñyela, a small port made tourist location during the boom of disposable wealth in 1920s America. A small group of friends from the northeast tag along down for the perfect paradise vacation. Only to discover the island is much much older than anyone could have ever assumed. Whilst dealing with upstart gangsters, unnerving US soldiers, and the terrified locals they find something older than even undead conquistadors.

While I don’t have a working title, this is an old project in the running which I’ve had a few attempts at revamping over time. Its previous title was “perfect paradise vacation,” and runs on the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition game. Anywho it’s a blast of fun with Caribbean lore, tone of anti-imperialism, and something dark lurking beneath the waves.

2.) 1950’s America, the nonexistent state of Mid-Atlantia (DMV coded) in a small suburban neighborhood where nothing goes wrong… it’s almost “All-Hallows-Eve” and little Johnny and Susie want nothing more than to trick or treat this year with all the big kids, Dad’s finally getting the big promotion at work, and Mom just got a new waffle iron! Sure everything is neat here in America. Heck you just got new neighbors! Newlyweds in fact from somewhere big and fancy, they sure aren’t like any of us in our simple town. But… and you can’t say exactly why but things are different. Or perhaps they’re all too the same? Everyday a repeat of ever other bland day that followed you over and over and over and over… and you could swear, while no one may listen to you there’s someone out there. Stalking you from outside your own home- or- perhaps, he’s just your friendly new neighbor welcoming you… to the end.

Ahhhhhh! I’ve also been working on this one for a sec and god writing it out does excite me. This is also a Call of Cthulhu game but modified/homebrewed to have a uniquely 1950s horror feel. This is definitely one of the more unique games I’ve written and am truly interested in seeing where it goes (even if we don’t choose it). This is for those who feel like isolation, fear of the unknown, fear from within, and liminal space horror comes best into play! So whadya say neighbor?

3.) The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend, or How I Learned to Love Strahd, okay so this one is a lot less horror-y and falls much more under the comedic spooky category, just so yall know. Deep in the middle of Barovia, the ancient kingdom of Vampires, meets a council of Count Strahd von Zarovich's greatest commanders and lieutenants to hunt down Strahd's greatest enemy Rudolph van Richten and his party of heroes known as "The Grape-Smashers." Strahd's lieutenants have been gifted powers greater than any mere mortals, but are these gifts enough to stop Van Richten, or even enough to stop the personal ambitions of each other? Come find out in "How I Learned to Love Strahd."

Okay, as much as this may seem like a joke suggestion it cracks me up and I feel like it would be ill-advised of me to not at least mention it. In an era where "The Curse of Strahd," is well-overdone at this point, it's worth a take from an all evil "revenge story." Obviously this will be in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, which, in my opinion, is really hard to use for horror, but this is a nice go-around. Come for the evil PCs, maybe a PvP battle or two, and a game of intrigue in the shadows of Barovia! All that and a buff Van Richten.

4.) Before Annapolis was ever called such it was known as Providence, a settlement of exiled Puritans in the Province of Maryland, but these early days were no easy set-up for the far-flung protestants... in the mid 1600s the English Civil War spilled out into their holdings across the waves as brother turned on brother, clan erasing clan, and something from the shores of the Old World would arrive in the New. When around every corner could be someone you've known your whole life, what's stopping them from hunting you in the depths of winter. All matters made worse when rumors of a witch begins circulating your small home.

Think "The VVitch" (2015) meets "A Field in England" (2013) meets Atun Shei's recent film "The Sudsbury Devil" (2023). It is the unexplored wilderness of early colonial Maryland, but the hateful warmongering that slowly builds that makes the horror and tension so clear. Unsure of what system we'll be using, but maybe the new Regency Cthulhu system.

5.) The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 destroyed some 140 Acres of Baltimore proper... and in it's rubble awakened something far worse. But you and your fellow survivors are just trying to get by in the aftermath of the fire... only for something to call out, whether some strange magicks or perhaps just a sickness... but sickness doesn't even linger like this... it doesn't call to you...

Some more local history, aspiring from the actual Fire of 1904 things quickly devolve from there as rumors of a cult begin to spread along the streets of Rosland Park... a mysterious illness leaving even more dead... and the death of an eclectic professor. Definitely using the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition for this one.

Aaaaaaaand that's it! Let me know what y'all think!

[isitfurbait]

this historic hippo?

____ Wow, she has curves. Also the history of her. Wow! Yeah, I’m down with Club Hippo! She really is a pretty hippo and I appreciate this design a lot.

[catpartyletsgo]

Herman the Coast Guard Cat

The WWII Coast Guard at the port of Baltimore decided they needed a mouser aboard their navy vessel, and soon found Herman, known as an “expert mouser” and hired him to keep the ship free of mice and rats. Herman then officially became a member of the U.S. Armed Forces at eight months old. “It is a good thing to get rid of rats in general,” Col. Richard P. Strong, Medical Corps, United States…

[forthosebefore]

The governor’s office said the home is believed to be that of an enslaved overseer, possibly Jerry Manokey. It follows the April 2021 announcement of the discovery of the home of Ben Ross, Tubman’s father.

“Harriet Tubman’s birthplace is sacred ground, and this discovery is part of our ongoing commitment to preserve the legacy of those who lived here,” Moore said in a news release.

Maryland Department of Transportation Chief Archaeologist Dr. Julie Schablitsky and her team have been searching for the homes of those enslaved on the Thompson Farm for more than two years. At one time, more than 40 enslaved people lived there. The recent home discovery is on private property, while the archaeological remains of Ross’s home are located on the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

Beneath layers of soil, archaeologists uncovered a substantial brick building foundation of the home. The excavation also revealed hundreds of artifacts.

Watch interview with archaeologist Dr. Julie Schablitsky here.

Source: AP News, WBALTV, Town & Country Magazine. Learn more about the rare Harriet Tubman photo used above here.

Visit www.attawellsummer.com/forthosebefore to learn more about Black history and read new blog posts first.

Need a freelance graphic designer or illustrator? Send me an email.

[ltwilliammowett]

A sail guide of the Schooner Pride of Baltimore II

[usaac-official]

Flight crew from No. 223 Squadron RAF walk away from a Martin 187 Baltimore IV after a mission over Popoli, Italy, 1943

(L-R) Sergeant S A Jupp (pilot), Flight Sergeant W G Gidley (navigator), Sergeant W A Airth (air gunner), Lanarkshire Warrant Officer J W Simpson (wireless operator)

[sealedintime]

Cooling down - Druid Hill Park, Baltimore - 1930s

[whencyclopedia]

This map illustrates the course of the War of 1812 (1812–1815), a conflict between the United States and Great Britain driven by trade restrictions, the impressment of American sailors, and disputes over territorial expansion. Native American allies played a significant role, aligning with the British to resist U.S. territorial encroachment and to defend their lands and sovereignty (their aspirations...

[aryburn-trains]

Sixth Street Crossing

Pittsburgh commuter to Versailles 4 days before this line was relocated to eliminate 23 grade crossings McKeesport, PA May 1, 1970

[20th-century-railroading]

Illinois Central Gulf - Ash Street

A westbound ICG local freight approaches Ash Street crossing while a B&O transfer is on the connection track to the Santa Fe behind the tower, in April 1987.

[humanoidhistory]

Star Wars news from 1978: C-3PO and R2-D2 star in a PSA for childhood vaccinations.

[smytherines]

hey British people, this is a question that doesn't really matter buuuut if you're at all familiar with London-- I am just a simple, vulgar american trying to pick a specific neighborhood Owen grew up in. I'm thinking East End because (if we just pretend Joe Walker does a flawless cockney accent) that has a lot of interesting implications, and I've sorta narrowed it down to Stepney or Poplar (although I'm open to suggestions!)

From what I've read, Stepney seems to be the worst-hit neighborhood in London during WWII, and was slightly better off than Poplar? It's closer to the heart of London, and depending on where exactly I put him (I think? If I'm reading these maps right?) he could possibly see the Tower of London from his neighborhood growing up, which is interesting to me

But Poplar might be easier to write and have a functional understanding of because I've seen Call the Midwife? I'm basing all this from looking at historical maps and pictures, so maybe the situation has changed, but from 1940s maps Poplar seems to be more industrial, more slums, more docks. Although something is certainly appealing to me about putting him on the Isle of Dogs (dog Owen propaganda babeeyy)

My original plan was to have him grow up in Stepney and eventually move someplace like Islington as an adult, because from what I've read most of Stepney and Poplar were still heavily damaged from the war well into the 1950s, and Islington had an influx of young professionals who were working in London and needed things like basic sanitation. Also I wrote adult Owen having a small garden out back, and it looks like that was much more common in Islington than it would've been in the east end

Anyways I'm sorry if I've messed anything up here!

[unapologeticallygay]

Gay TV Show Firsts

On February 9th, 1971 the first explicitly gay character “Steve” appeared on television in season 1 episode 5 “Judging Books by Covers” of the American sitcom All in the Family. This episode made its mark by portraying the opposite of the flamboyant stereotype of gay men (that the main character and best friend of Steve held to believe) by representing a gay man who was the complete opposite: masculine, tough, and a former football player. These attributes lead president at the time Richard Nixon to call out the show for “glorifying homosexuality”. Prior to this there were some coded and repressed gay and lesbian characters, but it was not as clear as to them being homosexual as it was on All in the Family.

The first same sex kiss ever on television was in Australian soap opera The Box in the first episode which premiered on February 11, 1974. The character Vicki Stafford (right) is canonically bisexual.

The American sitcom Hot l Baltimore which ran on ABC for one season in 1975, beginning January 24th, featured tv’s first gay couple, they were also main characters. There was much controversy for this at the time and the couple was not allowed to show any physical intimacy. There was also a viewer discretion warning at the beginning of each episode to warn for “mature themes”.

On February 7th, 1991 legal drama L.A. Law featured the first same sex kiss on American network television in the episode “He’s a Crowd”.

Controversy and support erupted and some advertisers removed their advertisements from the broadcast, while GLAAD praised the episode. One of the actresses reported that the kiss was a ratings ploy with no intention to explore a lesbian relationship. Both characters ended up with men.

This episode gave birth to the TV trope “lesbian kiss episode”, where a typically one off episode character that was a lesbian or bisexual woman would kiss a heterosexual female main character, played for shocks, laughs and ratings boots and is never mentioned again or explored further.

On October 20th of that same year Fox’s sitcom Roc featured the first gay wedding in season 1 episode 8 titled “Can’t Help Loving That Man”.

Writer of the episode Jeffrey Duteil said the audience was overwhelmingly supportive and that the network “couldn’t be more pleased” with how it turned out.

The first gay sex scene on television was a bit hard to confirm but I believe it to be from the original UK Queer as Folk which began airing February 23rd, 1999 and ran till February 22nd, 2000.

The US remake of the show which ran from December 3rd, 2000 - August 2nd 2005 was the first American show to feature gay sex. Both shows were very groundbreaking for their explicit portrayal of it.

[rosemeriwether]

Fort McHenry

It be hot outside boy!

[coltoncowsbell]

only one of these men has a degree and it’s not in minecraft