Stacy Patterson

Baltimore Heritage, Inc.

My internship site was Baltimore Heritage, Inc., a local preservation advocacy and education non-profit organization in Baltimore. Situated in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, the organization has been at the center of Baltimore's biggest preservation issues. My internship was threefold, allowing me to shadow the executive director, help to organize an annual awards ceremony, and work on an original research project. Over the entire eight week period, I shadowed the executive director (and only employee), and learned all that was involved in running a small non-profit organization involved with major preservation issues. I also attended and benefited from board and committee meetings, openings of newly rehabilitated buildings, and meetings with those in need of Baltimore Heritage's help. In my first two weeks, I helped to prepare for Baltimore Heritage's annual awards ceremony recognizing outstanding preservation work throughout the city. For the rest of my time at Baltimore Heritage, I worked on a project that examined the remaining early nineteenth-century wooden houses in the Fell's Point neighborhood. I researched each building's history and connection to the greater Fell's Point context, as well as the history of wooden houses in Baltimore in general. I wrote a document which detailed the story of the houses and promoted the preservation of those remaining examples. My overall experience at Baltimore Heritage was great and taught me so much about preservation in a real world setting.