Garrett Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund

03/09/2026

Join us at the historic Garrett–Jacobs Mansion (home of The Engineers Club) for the remaining lectures in our 2026 Spring Lecture Series, held on select Sundays from 2–3 pm. Tickets: https://bit.ly/4b0j6ki

On April 12, Dr. Richard Bell offers a fresh, global perspective on the American Revolution and its far-reaching impact with the talk, “American Revolution and the Fate of the World.” Then, on May 24, historian and architecture enthusiast Charlie Duff presents “The Making of America’s Greatest Classical Architect,” a lecture that explores how Baltimore launched the career of John Russell Pope, future designer of the National Gallery, National Archives, and Jefferson Memorial. We hope you’ll join us for thoughtful conversation in one of Baltimore’s most beautiful historic settings.

Tickets are $15 ($10 for Baltimore Heritage members) and can be purchased via Baltimore Heritage: https://bit.ly/4b0j6ki This event is hosted by the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund, Baltimore Heritage, and the Engineering Society of Baltimore.

03/07/2026

In Gilded Age Baltimore, the winter social season enjoyed by the city’s wealthy citizens took off in late November and continued at a frantic pace with balls, parties, musical events, theater, and suppers. But all activity came to an abrupt halt with the arrival of Ash Wednesday and Lent, a time when, as one Baltimore Sun reporter solemnly wrote, “many persons will lay aside worldly pleasures.”

Well, sort of. While the splashy ball gowns may have been packed away, the Lenten season was not without diversions. “The season of social rest has come, but in reality it is merely the exchange of pronounced gayety for quieter, but just as enjoyable amusements,” The New York Times commented on Baltimore “society” in 1892. These activities tended to center around the home, as people gathered for card games, parlor “musicales” or talks, quiet suppers, and teas.

Not that there wasn’t some pushback. “The question in the minds of a great many persons now is, ‘What will be permitted in the way of entertaining during Lent and what will be regarded beyond the pale?’” The Baltimore Sun asked. For some, this skirting of the rules took the form of charitable events, such as opera performances that doubled as fundraisers for worthy causes. (And, as this image published in a humor magazine in 1903 slyly noted, even Lenten restrictions couldn't deter courtship and romance.) Other members of Baltimore society simply began their spring travels early, departing the city for Europe or similar faraway destinations.

Taking part in both the rush of the winter season and the more contemplative Lenten days would likely have suited Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs, who not only adored throwing a good party but also was committed to her church. After a season of hosting elaborate entertainments, the perfectionistic Mary Frick likely welcomed smaller gatherings dedicated to good works.

02/21/2026

Join us at the historic Garrett–Jacobs Mansion (home of The Engineers Club) for our 2026 Spring Lecture Series, taking place on three select Sundays from 2-3 pm. Tickets: https://bit.ly/4b0j6ki

On March 1, Baltimore historian Jack Burkert brings to life the immigrant experience that helped build the city with “Building Baltimore: A Talk on Immigration and Opportunity.” Then, on April 12, Dr. Richard Bell offers a fresh, global perspective on the American Revolution and its far-reaching impact with the talk, “American Revolution and the Fate of the World.” Finally, on May 24, historian and architecture enthusiast Charlie Duff presents “The Making of America’s Greatest Classical Architect,” a lecture that explores how Baltimore launched the career of John Russell Pope, future designer of the National Gallery, National Archives, and Jefferson Memorial. We hope you’ll join us for thoughtful conversation in one of Baltimore’s most beautiful historic settings.

Tickets are $15 ($10 for Baltimore Heritage members) and can be purchased via Baltimore Heritage: https://bit.ly/4b0j6ki This event is hosted by the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund, Baltimore Heritage, and the Engineering Society of Baltimore.

01/29/2026

The “hottest” event in town returns! Enjoy food, drinks, and music at Baltimore’s most elegant setting at the 30th Annual Fire Ball, on Saturday, February 21, 2026 from 7 to 11 p.m., at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion (home of The Engineers Club).

In keeping with this year’s theme, A Roaring 20s Celebration, guests will enjoy a night of jazz and timeless sophistication. Come dance the night away to live music, sip craft cocktails, and enjoy a selection of culinary specialties. Dress to impress in your finest black-tie attire and be prepared for a glamorous evening in support of the Garrett Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund.

Tickets are $250 and include admission, gourmet food stations, and valet parking (tax and gratuity included). Purchase your tickets today here: https://bit.ly/45CG5yX

07/10/2025

On this day in 1864, John W. Garrett, president of the B&O Railroad during the Civil War (and father-in-law to Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs), sent a message to Union officials that would ultimately help save Washington from Confederate invasion.
On June 29, railroad agents alerted Garrett of Confederate troops moving through Virginia. While Garrett was a Southern sympathizer, he was also an astute businessman who had decided that loyalty to the Union better served the B&O. Concerned for the company’s infrastructure--including a key bridge that crossed the Monocacy outside of Frederick—he persisted in getting the attention of Union officials and helped move troops and supplies to Monocacy Junction.

Although Union troops were ultimately defeated at the Battle of the Monocacy, the delayed advancement of Confederate troops towards Washington allowed Ulysses S. Grant to dispatch additional forces that would protect the capital days later at the Battle of Fort Stevens. President Lincoln would later praise Garrett, calling him “the right arm of the Federal Government in the aid he rendered the authorities in preventing the Confederates from seizing Washington and securing its retention as the Capital of the Loyal States."

To learn more, check out the National Park Service’s webpage on John W. Garrett. https://bit.ly/2ZiZdim

07/10/2025

The Garrett Jacobs Mansion is seeking volunteer docents! If you love history, architecture, or simply good stories, this is your chance to help welcome the public into one of Baltimore’s most storied spaces.

Training will take place over three Sunday afternoon sessions: July 20, August 24, and October 5, each starting at 2 p.m. Register for training sessions here: http://bit.ly/3Tt1pQX.

01/22/2025

Opera Baltimore's 16th season is in full swing and there’s something for everyone, from the novice fan to the seasoned aficionado.

In the New Year, Opera Baltimore continues its popular performance and beverage tasting series, Thirsty Thursdays at the Opera, on Thursday, January 23, at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.) at the historic Garrett Jacobs Mansion. Plus, a spring performance is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m. Enjoy musical selections paired with four beverages curated to complement each performance.

For younger audiences, Opera Baltimore partners with the Towson University Department of Music’s Children’s Opera Ensemble to present Little Red's Most Unusual Day, an operatic version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood created by John Davies and based on scenes from operas by J. Offenbach and G. Rossini. (Saturday, January 25, and Saturday, March 1, at 10:30 a.m.)

Take in opera from the mansion’s ballroom stage with concert performances. First, Gaetano Donizetti brings Mary, Queen of Scots to life in the tragic bel canto masterpiece Maria Stuarda. (Wednesday, February 26, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, February 28, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 2 at 3 p.m.) The second in Donizetti's "Three Queens" operas, Maria Stuarda dramatizes the confrontation between Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I of England and explores themes of power, politics, and personal rivalry. Then, be sure to catch Benjamin Britten's delightful chamber opera Albert Herring. (Wednesday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 2, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, May 4, at 3 p.m.) Albert Herring humorously portrays the events surrounding the crowning of a reluctant May King in a small English town, highlighting the absurdity of social conventions and the freedom found in breaking away from them.

Visit www.operabaltimore.org for information on season subscriptions and ticket sales and to learn more about Opera Baltimore’s civic programs, community concerts, educational programs, and performances. We are honored to host Opera Baltimore as part of our GJMEF Artists-in-Residence program.

01/22/2025

Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs was a prolific collector of rare medical books, which he proudly displayed in the library of the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. Inspired by the extensive collection of his friend and colleague, the famed physician Dr. William Osler, Dr. Jacobs began building his own library with the acquisition of an 1819 first edition of René Laënnec’s De l’auscultation médiate (“On Mediate Auscultation”). From this seed, he would grow his collection to include nearly 5,000 volumes, the bulk of which he donated to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine shortly before his death. Today, most of these treasures remain safely housed in the university’s Welch Medical Library, where they are managed by the Department of the History of Medicine. However, stray texts periodically resurface at online auction sites or secondhand bookstores, identified by the very safeguard meant to deter their loss: Dr. Jacobs’ distinctive bookplate.

Bookplates, pasted or stamped labels identifying a book’s owner, were first introduced some decades after the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press. Typically employing the Latin phrase Ex Libris (which translates to “from the library of”), bookplates were widely used by European nobility, who illustrated the labels with their family heraldry. In colonial America, bookplates could reflect the political climate. George Washington’s bookplates, ordered from England in 1771, featured his family’s coat of arms and the phrase Exitus Acta Probat: “The outcome justifies the deed.”

By the 1890s, the growing American middle class joined wealthy industrialists in commissioning artistic personalized bookplates. Unlike European nobility, most of these new collectors lacked family heraldry; instead, they included imagery that reflected their personal interests, professions, and artistic tastes. During this period, bookplates themselves became sought-after collectibles, and several societies dedicated to their study and acquisition were formed.

Dr. Jacobs’ bookplate was designed in 1928 by Massachusetts architect Woldemar Ritter (1880-1935). Ritter, whose Swiss heritage family included prominent engineers, immigrated to the United States in 1906. Ritter’s focus was on ecclesiastical architecture, and in Baltimore his work included the Christmas Tower at Emmanuel Episcopal Church and Grace & St. Peter's Episcopal Church, the Mount Vernon Place parish where Dr. Jacobs attended services with his wife, Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs. Ritter was also a skilled artist who had created heraldry for churches and arts organizations. At Dr. Jacobs’ direction, Ritter created a bookplate that reflected his client’s family history, community, and commitment to the medical profession.

Dr. Jacobs’ bookplate was published in The New England Journal of Medicine in February of 1932 as an accompaniment to an article about the donation of his library to Johns Hopkins. The following month, in response to inquiries about the artwork, the journal published a portion of a letter from Dr. Jacobs explaining its symbolism:

“Beginning at the left-hand upper corner, the Mayflower, on which I had seven ancestors sailing; the centre, at the top, is a sketch of my birthplace in Assinippi, Cape Cod, the home of several generations of the Jacobs family and originally built in 1720; the shield at the right-hand corner is the Jacobs coat-of-arms: below the Mayflower is Phillips Exeter Academy; to the right is that of Harvard College: under Exeter is Johns Hopkins University; under Harvard, the coat-of-arms of Baltimore Cathedral; in the left lower corner is the Aesculapian staff and serpent representing Medicine; the little sketch in the middle at the bottom is my office in Baltimore; and at the lower right-hand corner Is the double red cross of Tuberculosis. The names represent the authors of my special collections of prints and medals.”

The advent of cheap mass-market paperbacks in the 1930s and the current age of screens and e-readers have diminished the need for bookplates. Still, should you be interested in starting a new hobby, there are still ex libris enthusiasts who will happily welcome you into the fold.

01/22/2025

Thanks to all who participated in September’s Mount Vernon Place Plein Air Art Show, held at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion! Funds raised through this event will help the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund (GJMEF) in our efforts to preserve the architectural and historical character of the mansion.

Guests enjoyed wine and refreshments while admiring the work of 30 artists who presented nearly 100 canvases depicting Mount Vernon Place. Walter Schamu, FAIA, Founding Principal of SM+P Architects, presided as Master of Ceremonies and presented awards to selected paintings, many of which were later carried away by eager collectors.

01/22/2025

Hetty Green, the Gilded Age businesswoman dubbed the “Witch of Wall Street,” was famous for her moneymaking genius and compulsion for frugality. Despite amassing what would now be a billion-dollar fortune from real estate and railroad investments, she wore tattered, out-of-fashion dresses, argued over every penny with shopkeepers, and, famously, lived in inexpensive boardinghouses.

In 1890, newspapers across the country reported the story of one Baltimore landlady who was “not well up on railroad affairs” unwittingly renting rooms to the richest woman in the United States: “A few days after her arrival, a superb carriage dashed up to the door, and Miss Mary Garrett sent up her card. Next came Mrs. Robert Garrett. The Baltimore and Ohio magnates were very anxious to be friendly with Mrs. Hetty Green.” The story continues, Cinderella-like, when the dowdy tenant emerged from her room to attend a dinner the Garretts were hosting for her. “The landlady scarcely recognized her quiet lodger, for she was magnificently gowned and wore the jewels that she reserves for very grand occasions.” The article ends with reference to Green's famous frugality, with the guest “looking sharply over her modest bill on leaving, before paying it.”

This type of tale—where frumpy Hetty Green reveals her millionaire status to unsuspecting boardinghouse proprietors—was common enough that, in an 1895 article, Godey's magazine noted the regularity of newspapers depicting her as “mysteriously moving from town to town in a vain effort to elude tax assessors and reporters. Such stories are apt to contain an interview with some boarding-house keeper who has lost her gilded guest.”

Indeed, according to Green biographer Janet Wallach, a similar story was reported in a New York newspaper. In this telling, Green was residing at the Brooklyn boardinghouse of Alice Bonta when she was visited by Mary Garrett and the president of Johns Hopkins University. According to the article, the pair were calling on Green as part of their campaign to raise funds for a medical school. The next evening, Bonta was surprised to find Green decked out in Gilded Age finery as she prepared to attend dinner with her visitors.

Sources are unclear as to whether Mary Garrett was successful in her campaign to win Hetty Green’s support for the medical school. Green was publicly notorious as a miser who hoarded her wealth, but according to those close to her, she could be generous. “I believe in discreet charity,” Green once said. As a Quaker, this discretion matched her religious values. (It also helped to keep charity seekers at bay.)

In any case, Mary Garrett would ultimately receive a sizable donation for her cause from Green’s millions, although neither was living when it was made. Green died in 1916, leaving her estate to her two children. When her daughter, Sylvia Wilks, died in 1951, she left no heirs. The fortune her mother left to her was distributed to more than 60 charities, including Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, which received $3 million.

01/09/2025

The “hottest” event in town returns! Enjoy food, drinks, and live music at Baltimore’s most elegant setting at the 29th Annual Fire Ball, on Saturday, February 22, from 8 p.m. to midnight, at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion (home of The Engineers Club).

Enjoy a Mardi Gras-themed evening of fun reminiscent of one of the world’s most vibrant cities! Come dance the night away to live music, sip craft cocktails, and enjoy a selection of culinary specialties. Dress to impress in your finest black-tie attire and be prepared for a glamorous evening in support of the Garrett Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund.

Tickets are $230 and include admission, gourmet food stations, and valet parking (tax and gratuity included). Purchase your tickets today here: https://tinyurl.com/32rkjf49

The Garrett-Jacobs Mansion is a jewel in the crown of Baltimore’s most distinctive historic homes. A unique example of a building that combines the work of two of America’s most distinguished and influential architects: Stanford White & John Russell P

01/01/2025

For many, New Year’s Day is a time to relax with family, to recover from the excesses of the previous evening, and/or, for the ambitious, to dismantle the holiday season’s decorations. But in the mid-19th century Baltimore of Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs’ youth, the first day of the year was reserved for New Year’s calling.

Part social mechanism for renewing acquaintances, part courting ritual, the custom of starting the year by receiving guests was first observed by the descendants of New York’s “Knickerbocker” Dutch settlers, but it was quickly adopted by other cities and towns. Starting at 10 o’clock in the morning, gentlemen would descend upon the homes of well-to-do society families, calling cards in hand. These “New Year’s callers” were greeted by the ladies of the household, who provided refreshments, polite conversation, and well-chaperoned flirtation. Visits were short, as the men sought to call on as many homes, and to leave as many cards, as possible.

Mary Frick, a popular young woman, was undoubtedly an enthusiastic participant. “The girls of that time regarded New Year’s as their own special property,” reminisced a Baltimore Sun writer in 1906. “It was the day of days to them, the social clearinghouse for the engagements of the coming weeks.” Young women would gather in the parlor of a chosen friend to share hostess duties and compliment each other on their party dresses. “They loved their New Year’s and their callers, and all was excitement. What mattered to them if the gas bill went up fearfully, and the rooms got hotter and hotter, and their pretty feet, encased in white kids, felt wearier and wearier? It was their day… and joy alone triumphed.”

Later, as the married Mrs. Robert Garrett, Mary Frick’s Mount Vernon Place mansion was one of the open-house sites gentlemen were sure to call on. She would have provided her guests with oysters, turkey salad sandwiches, grapes, and fruit cake, as well as eggnog and Madeira. As years passed, serving alcohol began to be frowned upon. “Dear readers of the gentler sex,” one etiquette book implored, “do not offer wine on this day of days. Consider the man who may call on 50 houses… can you think comfortably of your own brother, father, husband, or lover after he has passed through this round of debauchery?” Hostesses must have taken heed of this advice, as newspapers began to note a decrease in New Year’s Day drunkenness.

By the end of the 1880s, the practice of New Year’s calling had significantly waned. For one, the population had increased, making the circle of visitors less intimate. Society matrons were also less inclined to open their homes to all callers, including strangers, as tradition dictated. More and more, baskets were placed outside of homes for collecting cards, and New Year’s gatherings became private affairs.