Misplaced Pages

#190809

57-609: The Cathedral Street Main Library is the flagship of the entire Enoch Pratt Free Library system, which includes twenty-one neighborhood branches, it was designated the "Maryland State Library Resource Center" by the General Assembly of Maryland in 1971. Central Library operates as the state library for Maryland. Its establishment began on January 21, 1882, when the longtime local hardware merchant, banking, and steamship company executive and philanthropist Enoch Pratt (1808-1896) offered

114-647: A $ 115 million restoration of the historic Central Library. The building remained open to the public. February 11–19, the Central Library closed to the public to relocate departments to the newly renovated upper floors, and to begin renovation of the lower levels. The restoration was completed in Fall of 2019. A Grand Reopening block party drew a crowd of 9,000 people. In 2020, the Senator Barbara A. Mikulski Room, with mementos and Mikulski's Presidential Medal of Freedom ,

171-641: A delegation of two hundred and fifty men from his ironworks filed past his casket. Poole is recognized as a benefactor for schools, colleges, and, most notably, a library which he had built and gave to the Enoch Pratt Free Library , the library system for the City of Baltimore . As an only child Poole lived in a one-story dwelling on an eight-acre farm outside the village of Gulladuff , 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Belfast , in what would become Northern Ireland . His father, George Poole (c. 1785-c. 1822),

228-477: A gift of a central library, four branch libraries (with two additional shortly afterward), and a financial endowment of more than $ 1 million to Mayor William Pinkney Whyte and the Baltimore City Council . His intention was to establish a public circulating library that (as he described it) "shall be for all, rich and poor without distinction of race or color, who, when properly accredited, can take out

285-416: A growing economy. Municipalities bought Poole-made steam fire engines, horsecars that ran on rails, and mechanisms that drove urban cable cars—new services for the nation's burgeoning cities. At Poole's death in 1903, a newspaper headlined his obituary "Captain of Industry Dead." Poole did business in an era of wide-spread industrial strikes; his company went fifty years without one. At his funeral service,

342-540: A small crew of metalworkers and opened for business as the Baltimore Ironworks (generally known as Poole & Fergusson). During the 1840s and 1850s a tectonic shift had begun in the use of natural resources—away from wood (and its derivative, charcoal ), long the nation's primary source of heat, and toward coal, soon to become the dominant fuel for heating homes and factories, for driving steam engines, and for smelting iron. By using coal instead of charcoal (as

399-406: A source of heat and carbon ), together with a process known as hot blast (blowing hot air into smelting furnaces), operators could build larger, more efficient furnaces and vastly increase their production of pig iron (the raw material for finished iron-based products). What had been scarce and expensive became plentiful and affordable—helping set off a wave of industrial diversification that laid

456-535: A standing committee for consideration and a public hearing. The president pro tempore appoints majority and minority whips and leaders. A bill is a proposal to change, repeal, or add to existing state law. A House Bill (HB) is one introduced in the House of Delegates (for example: HB 6); a Senate Bill (SB), in the Senate. Bills are designated by number, in the order of introduction in each house. For example, HB 16 refers to

513-629: A state ruled by the Palatine lord , Lord Baltimore. As ruler, Lord Baltimore owned directly all of the land granted in the charter, and possessed absolute authority over his domain. However, as elsewhere in British North America, British political institutions were re-created in the colonies, and the Maryland General Assembly fulfilled much the same function as the House of Commons . An act

570-419: A target of criticism from journalists during final years of existence: H. L. Mencken of The Baltimore Sun , a frequent and prolific user of the branch at Calhoun and Hollins Streets, judged it "so infernally hideous that it ought to be pulled down by the common hangman". By the late 1920s, Old Central could no longer hold the library's continually expanding collection, even though an annex had been added at

627-639: Is submitted by the State Central Committee of the same political party as the legislator whose seat is to be filled. The current pattern for distribution of seats began with the legislative apportionment plan of 1972 and has been revised every ten years thereafter according to the results of the decennial U.S. Census . A Constitutional amendment, the plan created 47 legislative districts, many of which cross county boundaries to delineate districts relatively equal in population. Each legislative district elects one senator and three delegates. In most districts,

SECTION 10

#1732851003191

684-676: Is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis . It is a bicameral body : the upper chamber , the Maryland Senate , has 47 representatives, and the lower chamber , the Maryland House of Delegates , has 141 representatives. Members of both houses serve four-year terms. Each house elects its own officers, judges the qualifications and election of its own members, establishes rules for

741-761: The Chicago Public Library ) served as the CEO of Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and since has been the Librarian of Congress in Washington, DC . Hayden and the staff of the Pennsylvania Avenue branch were praised for keeping the branch open on Monday April 27, 2015, after protests and the civil strife over the death of Freddie Gray . The library's location, at the intersection of Pennsylvania and West North Avenues in

798-496: The Lincoln Memorial and other monuments. Over his lifetime, Poole was granted eleven patents—one for improving the durability of wheels on railroad rolling stock and another for a device that accelerated the heating of water before it entered a boiler. His most successful invention was a revolving pan that mixed ingredients for commercial fertilizer, a mechanism that was widely adopted in the emerging fertilizer industry during

855-526: The Potomac River (creating park land for national monuments ), and complex devices (known as carriages) that controlled the raising and lowering of long-range guns for the defense of the U.S. coastline for the federal government. For industry, the Poole company produced metal-based turbines and millwork that powered new and expanding manufacturers of flour, fertilizer, paper, and textiles—industries central to

912-438: The 1870s and 1880s. Poole’s openness to the innovations of others freshened his company’s array of products and added to its profitability. George Babcock and Stephen Wilcox , Jr. of Providence licensed the Poole company to manufacture their patented safety boiler. Its water was dispersed in many small tubes that resisted exploding under pressure, a significant improvement over conventional, so-called shell boilers, whose water

969-535: The General Assembly adjourned early on March 18, 2020, for the first time since the Civil War . Each senator or delegate must be a U.S. citizen and a resident of Maryland for at least one year preceding his or her election. A prospective legislator must have resided in the legislative district the candidate seeks to represent for the six months prior to election. A senator must be at least twenty-five years of age at

1026-707: The Governor and his agencies and are not proposals of the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader, or the respective Committee Chair. They are listed with the official title of a legislator rather than the Governor due to requirements in the Maryland Constitution . The legislative procedure , is divided into distinct stages: Robert Poole (industrialist) Robert Poole (1818-1903)

1083-851: The Library, Healthcare in the Library, Peer Navigators, and Housing Navigators. Daniel sits on the Board of the Urban Libraries Council. In September 2024, Chad Helton was named as the library system's new president and CEO. In June 2022, workers across the Pratt Library system voted to form a union named Pratt Workers United with AFSCME Council 67, representing over 300 workers across the system, calling for improved wages, benefits, career advancement, and increased staff input on their work environment. The council would also represent workers at Baltimore Museum of Art and Walters Art Museum if union campaigns at those institutions are successful. Workers within

1140-474: The Maryland Department are non-circulating but available for patrons to examine. In 2023, The Pratt Library hit a 12-year high for circulation. That year also saw the highest number of new library cardholders in 7 years, as well as a surge in active cardholders. Summer reading program, Summer Break Baltimore also hit a record high with more than 21,000 participants across the city. Pratt's branches serve

1197-479: The Poole company to supply a derrick , a steam engine , and a stone-smoothing machine for that project. The Poole company worked again in Washington, D.C., in the 1880s, when its hydraulic pumps on barges sucked up muck and debris from the bottom of the Potomac River and, via a pipeline, deposited the material thousands of feet away, on the edge of the city, where it formed the ground for East Potomac Park , home to

SECTION 20

#1732851003191

1254-433: The age of 15 Poole apprenticed with a blacksmith , with machinists in textile mills , and with the engineer Ross Winans in the shops of the fledgling Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. From these experiences, Poole learned about iron, metalwork , engines, machinery, and the organization of an industrial enterprise. In 1843, on the northern edge of Baltimore, Poole and his first partner, William Fergusson (1816–1863), hired

1311-471: The books if they will handle them carefully and return them." The grant was soon accepted by the municipal government and approved by the voters on October 25, 1882. One of the early hires at the library was William A. Williams , the first Black Catholic seminarian in America (who later dropped out due to the prevailing racist attitudes of the day). From 1993 to August 11, 2016, Dr. Carla Hayden (formerly of

1368-521: The colonial Assembly ceased to exist, and was replaced by its modern successor. Starting in 1867, the Assembly became increasingly unrepresentative. As the population of Baltimore increased, it and other urban areas were not granted additional seats. By 1918, the city's population had increased 175% while the entire state gained only 46% with no reallocation of political power. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic ,

1425-640: The company to become a significant competitor in the generation and distribution of industrial power, particularly in textile mills in the South after the Civil War and in the paper-making industry in the Northeast. The company’s largest single order—for forty custom-made turbines—was for the hydroelectric station at York Haven, Pennsylvania , beside the Susquehanna River . Twenty of these turbines continue to turn electricity-producing generators today. “Robert Poole

1482-519: The conduct of its business, and may punish or expel its own members. The General Assembly convenes its legislative session for 90 days each year to act on more than 2,300 bills including the state's annual budget, which it must pass before adjourning sine die . The General Assembly's 446th session convened on January 10, 2024. The forerunner of the Maryland General Assembly was the colonial institution, an Assembly of Free Marylanders (and also Council of Maryland). Maryland's foundational charter created

1539-464: The construction of a branch library in Hampden-Woodberry and donated the building and its books to the Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore. During his lifetime, his gifts to institutions totaled the modern equivalent of $ 4–5 million dollars. After his death in 1903, trustees learned that he held mortgages, many for long-time employees, worth $ 3.4 million today, only a fraction of which

1596-400: The construction of a public school building that could house 350 pupils. In the 1890s, he gave money to support both The Woman’s College (later Goucher College ) and Morgan College (later Morgan State University ), where he was a trustee (1893–1901). Although he was a Methodist , Poole paid for rebuilding and enlarging St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Hampden-Woodberry. In 1899, he financed

1653-464: The construction of twenty more branches. Because of closings, relocations, and reallocation of space, the Pratt system now has twenty-two active branches. Designed by Charles L. Carson , "Old Central" occupied a fraction of the same plot of land as its successor 47 years later, facing West Mulberry Street near the corner of Cathedral Street . The structure's elaborate Romanesque Revival architecture became

1710-488: The darkest, most difficult days of the financial Great Depression and along with other major construction projects occurring at that time with the building of a new U.S. Courthouse and Post Office at Battle Monument Square at North Calvert and East Lexington-Fayette Streets, and the new Municipal Office Building on Holliday Street, across from the old Baltimore City Hall and the new Federal Courthouse/Post Office, offered an important source of desperately needed employment to

1767-708: The dome. For the Capitol project, Poole and Hunt took their instructions from Montgomery C. Meigs of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , superintendent of Capitol construction during the 1850s. (Meigs was later appointed by President Lincoln as Quartermaster of the Union Army during the Civil war). Simultaneous with the Capitol Project, Meigs was responsible for the building of the Washington Aqueduct , and contracted with

Enoch Pratt Free Library - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-529: The foundation for the Poole company's expansion. In 1851, because of disagreements over money and management, Poole ended his partnership with William Fergusson and took on, as his new partner, German H. Hunt (1828–1907), in a business they named the Union Works (generally known as Poole & Hunt). During their collaboration—until 1888, when Hunt retired—Poole managed internal operations of the ironworks; Hunt directed sales, bidding on contracts, and relations with

1881-452: The hundreds of out-of-work citizens of the city. The architects were C. and N. Friz, with consulting architects Tilton & Githens from New York. The building was completed in January 1933, and opened to the public on February 3, with a record of not one day of suspended service since the original beginnings of "Enoch Pratt's Folly" on January 5, 1886. In Spring of 2016, ground was broken on

1938-547: The largest of its kind in Maryland , with 800–850 employees, and, from the 1850s on, played a central role in the manufacture of iron-based infrastructure essential for private enterprise and public works in America. Poole’s company made the columns that encircle the base of the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., engines that powered Union gunships during the Civil War , hydraulic pumps that dredged

1995-489: The legislative process significantly. The President and the Speaker appoint the members of most committees and name their chairs and vice-chairs, except in the case of the Joint Committee on Investigation whose members elect their own officers. The President and Speaker preside over the daily sessions of their respective chambers, maintaining decorum and deciding points of order. As legislation is introduced, they assign it to

2052-416: The library system have been organizing for a union since May 2021. The merchant and financier Enoch Pratt , in a letter to the Baltimore City Council on January 21, 1882, offered to donate and construct a free public library with several neighborhood branches open to all the citizens of the City of Baltimore (and its surrounding environs). After some debate and discussion which was also widely reported in

2109-516: The library system. Construction of the Central Library began 1882; it opened on January 5, 1886 .  The first four branches also opened in 1886. Subsequently, Pratt gave funds for the construction of two more branches; one opened 1888 and the other in 1896. In 1899, Robert Poole , a Baltimore industrialist, built and gave to the City of Baltimore, a seventh branch located in Hampden. In 1905, steel-maker and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave $ 500,000 for

2166-500: The local newspapers, the mayor and council accepted the gift and the terms of its conditions later that year, which were subsequently approved by the citizens in a referendum held during an election that October, 1882. Pratt’s donation consisted of $ 250,000 for land and building for the central library; $ 50,000 for land and building for four branch libraries; and $ 833,333 in cash for an endowment whose estimated annual return of $ 50,000, he anticipated, would finance expenses for management of

2223-586: The major part of them ... shall think good. In addition, the Lord Proprietor could summon any delegates whom he desired. In 1639, noting that Parliament had not been summoned in England for a decade, the free men of Maryland passed an act to the effect that "assemblies were to be called once in every three years at the least", ensuring that their voices would be regularly heard. During the American Revolution

2280-431: The northwest center city Sandtown-Winchester community, found itself at the center of the protests drawing nationwide and international attention, giving community members a safe place during the troubled times. Following Hayden's departure and promotion on August 11, 2016, the acting director of the library has been Gordon Krabbe, who served as the library's chief operating officer since 1989. In July 2017, Heidi Daniel

2337-522: The public. In 1853, after a fire in their foundry and machine shop, and a city-wide strike of metalworkers, the partners moved their operations from Baltimore to what was then the village of Woodberry , a few miles north of the city. On farmland beside the Jones Falls (falls is a local word for river), they constructed a plant fifty percent larger than the in-town ironworks. Each craft had its own shop of one story; ample space between shops made possible

Enoch Pratt Free Library - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-523: The rear. Baltimore City voters approved a loan for $ 3 million by an almost 3-to-1 margin on May 3, 1927. The Central Pratt Library's staff, services and 400,000 volumes were relocated to temporary quarters at the old Rouse-Hempstone Building at West Redwood Street and Hopkins Place (now the site of the Royal Farms Arena for a two-year stay during 1931–1933. At this temporary location, the Central Pratt

2451-447: The sixteenth bill introduced in the House of Delegates. The numbering starts afresh each session. The names of the sponsor (and co-sponsors, if any), the legislator who introduced the bill, becomes part of the title. Bills listed as "The Speaker (By Request of Administration)", "The President (By Request of Administration)", "Minority Leader (By Request of Administration)", or "Committee Chair (By Request of Department)" are bills proposed by

2508-510: The subsequent enlargement of the business. It was during this period of transition—to a new partnership and a new location—that Poole's company came to national attention with its work on the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. in the 1850s.  Responsible for enlarging and modernizing the overcrowded building, the architect of the project, Thomas U. Walter made architectural history when he selected iron instead of marble for

2565-417: The thirty-six columns (known as a peristyle) that surround the base of the dramatic new dome he designed. Forty miles away, Poole set precedent, too, when he cast the columns in deep pits in his new foundry. Molding iron in that way and for this purpose had not been accomplished before. The Poole company would go on to supply a total of 2.8 million pounds of structural iron for the new Capitol, chiefly for

2622-462: The three delegates are elected at large from the whole district via block voting . However, in some more sparsely populated areas of the state, the districts are divided into subdistricts for the election of delegates: either into three one-delegate subdistricts or one two-delegate subdistrict and one one-delegate subdistrict. The Senate is led by a President and the House by a Speaker whose respective duties and prerogatives enable them to influence

2679-455: The time of election and a delegate at least twenty-one. Military officers other than members of the reserves are not eligible for election to the General Assembly. Each term lasts four years. However, members of the General Assembly are not term-limited . If a vacancy occurs in either house through death, resignation, or disqualification, the Governor of Maryland appoints a replacement whose name

2736-582: The unique needs of customers in their neighborhoods. There are 21 branches across the city of Baltimore, as well as three mobile units. In 2018, the Pratt expanded service hours by more than 30 percent across the system. Branches include Brooklyn Canton, Clifton, Edmondson Avenue, Forest Park, Govans, Hamilton, Hampden, Herring Run, Light Street, Northwood, Orleans Street, Patterson Park, Pennsylvania Avenue, Reisterstown Road, Roland Park, Southeast Anchor, Walbrook, Washington Village, and Waverly. Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly

2793-422: Was a farmer; his mother, Mary Shields Poole (1783–1857) was a flax spinner. After his father's death, Poole, age 6, and his mother, 41, immigrated to Baltimore in 1824. (At the time, Baltimore was America's third largest and fastest growing city.) "She must have had friends there," his granddaughter wrote. Poole’s mother supported the family as a seamstress and tutor , and she homeschooled her son. Starting at

2850-538: Was able to reorganize and plan for its future arrangements of departments and try out its soon-to-be famous "department store windows" displays It was razed in 1931, along with several townhouses facing Cathedral Street, including a significant one formerly owned by Robert Goodloe Harper . The replacement structure occupies the entire block facing the Old Baltimore Cathedral . Construction began in June 1931, during

2907-464: Was an Irish-born engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and benefactor. In 1843 he founded an ironworks in Baltimore , Maryland. For his workforce he hired members of what would become the first generation of modern metalworkers ( machinists , molders , patternmakers , and boilermakers )—an emerging trade whose numbers would swell to 250,000 nationally by the end of the 19th century. His enterprise became

SECTION 50

#1732851003191

2964-469: Was an exceptional engineer with remarkable insight into the future and anticipation of big things in engineering," wrote editor and author E.A. Suverkrop, in the American Machinist . (vol.52, no.3, 15 January 1920) Poole responded to needs, one by one, as they came to his attention, not as part of any organized program of philanthropy. On land adjoining his ironworks, in the early 1880s, he underwrote

3021-404: Was concentrated in a single container which, when overheated, could exploded easily and with fatal consequences. Robert Poole and Englishman John Walker collaborated on the manufacture and use of semi-automated, gear-molding machinery (an advance over cast and machine-cut gears) that, reportedly, sped production and improved their quality. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Poole company

3078-522: Was named the new president and CEO of the public library system. Under Daniel's leadership, the Pratt became one of the first fine-free public library system's on the East Coast. In 2017, the Enoch Pratt Free Library was named one of Reader's Digest and Good Morning America ' s Nicest Places in America. Daniel also helped expand the library's social impact programs, including Social Worker in

3135-471: Was opened in the Central Library. The Maryland Department, located on the second floor of the 2004 Annex, contains many of the library's prized collections. These include 275,000 mounted documents (mostly newspaper articles), 2100 maps, 6000 pieces of ephemera, and 24,000 photographs, all relevant to Maryland and Maryland history . The Maryland Department also has a room full of books pertaining to Maryland, with an emphasis on Baltimore . Most materials in

3192-501: Was passed providing that: from henceforth and for ever everyone being of the council of the Province and any other gentleman of able judgement summoned by writ (and the Lord of every Manor within this Province after Manors be erected) shall and may have his voice, seat, and place in every General Assembly ... together with two or more able and sufficient men for the hundred as the said freedmen or

3249-556: Was ranked as the leading maker of diversified industrial gearing in the United States—with gears that fit into a child's hand and stood as high as an elephant. Poole's  most important alliance was with James Leffel of Springfield, Ohio , inventor of the so-called double turbine water wheel, a highly efficient mechanism that converted the energy of moving water into rotary power that drove machinery. Leffel’s turbine, and turbines that Poole engineers designed on their own, enable

#190809