Kathleen Manicke

Belair Mansion

I pursued my interest in historic buildings at the Belair Mansion in Bowie, Maryland. Belair was built in 1745 for Samuel Ogle, one of the colonial governors of Maryland. While at Belair, I worked directly under Stephen Patrick, director of museums for the city of Bowie. My responsibilities were threefold: to research the women of Belair for a possible reinterpretation of the museum, to write a lesson plan for secondary school students about slavery at Belair, and to investigate damage to portions of the plaster walls in the mansion caused by water infiltration and make recommendations to alleviate the cause or causes of the damage. For my research on the women of Belair, I used primary source material in the archives of the museum as well as at the Maryland State Archives. I researched five women from various periods of Belair’s history: Anne Ogle, Henrietta Ogle, Rosalie Ogle, and Maria, a slave who appeared on the probate inventories for Benjamin Ogle II and then wrote biographies of each of these women that will serve as the foundation for the reinterpretation. I also wrote a lesson plan about slavery at Belair that requires student research in primary documentation in addition to encouraging fieldwork at Belair through sketching, photographing, and writing descriptions. Finally, I wrote a short report on the water damage to plaster walls found in two separate areas in the mansion. Then I followed through to find a contractor to do the mitigation and repair work needed. This internship was a wonderful experience that allowed me to expand my skills in both history and preservation.