HOWARD COUNTY HISTORY

Howard County’s Women’s History

A loving wife and mother wrote to her husband in 1776, "It always seemed a most iniquitous scheme to me - [to] fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have and by the way in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands."

John Adams responded lightly: "I cannot but laugh É we have been warned that through the loosened bands of government that children and apprentices have become disobedient, schools turbulent, Indians and Negroes, insolent. But your letter was the first intimation that another tribe more numerous and powerful than all the rest were grown discontented."

It would take some time for American women and African-Americans to win equal rights under the law. We are fortunate that considerable documentation of their struggle has survived. How much of Howard County's unique heritage has been destroyed by floods, fires and other catastrophes is unknown.

One of the county's premier museums, The Howard County Center for African American Culture, in Columbia, has recently moved its vast research library to Howard Community College. The Center is a fascinating place to visit, with its diverse collection of memorabilia, changing exhibits and special programs.

The Ellicott City Colored School, Restored, just opened in September, is another research facility that offers family programming, lectures and interpretation of the roles of African-Americans in society. Even though both of these facilities primarily focus on African-American heritage, it's all American history. There is something for everyone, despite your ethnicity.

Several Howard County sites are engaged in women's studies and women's history. The Ellicott brothers have held the spotlight for years, with little attention paid to their wives and daughters. This apparently is something the gentlemen themselves would have disapproved of. Intensive research through a partnership between the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks and the Public History program at UMBC has rediscovered one of Ellicott Mills' first ladies: Betsy Ellicott. Like Abigail and John Adams, Betsy and her husband George were very much interested in equal rights for African and Native Americans and for women.

The Thomas Isaac Log Cabin's "Women of Ellicott Mills" walking tour debuted in the spring of 2003 with the honor of being designated an official stop on the Maryland Women's Heritage Trail. The ladies' living history program came into its own this summer with regularly scheduled heritage volunteers portraying a milliner, a spinner and a lace-maker of the 18th and 19th centuries. This fall, Betsy Ellicott joins the ranks of the distinguished women recognized, who cared for their families and actively served their communities.

The Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park's archive of original and secondary sources documenting one of Maryland's earliest scholarly schools for girls has grown considerably over the last five years. The park's programs highlight scores of stories about the ladies that administered, taught and attended the Patapsco Female Institute throughout the Victorian era.

Visitors have an opportunity to learn about the women of the past." The park provides general and tailor-made programs for all ages focusing on the accomplishments of the ladies of the Institute.

The Department of Recreation & Parks' invested interest in the Thomas Isaac Log Cabin; The Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park; the B&O Railroad Museum - Ellicott City Station; Fire House Museum and Ellicott City Colored School, Restored has grown to promote local interest and heritage tourism at these historic sites. You can find regular programming, specialty camps and events listed in the department's seasonal publication, "Guide to Fun and Adventure," under "Howard County Heritage" and "Howard Happenings."

To learn more visit the Howard County Historical Society Museum & Library.