February 2 @ 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm
1128 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Join the Baltimore Architecture Foundation on Groundhog’s Day for a Soul and Motown Mansion House Party.
Tickets also available at the door.
Celebrate a cherished winter tradition with the BAF—Groundhog Day. Mingle with fellow lovers of Baltimore architecture and party in a Mt. Vernon mansion that was home to some of Baltimore’s elite families and for most of its 128 year existence served as headquarters for the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. The mansion is remarkably intact with much of its Gilded Age detailing, and symbolic references to the Josephites’ 87 years in the building.
$100 Cocktail Reception Tickets (6:00 pm – 11:00 pm)
-Soul food dinner by Ida B’s
-Open bar until 7:30 pm with cocktails and Union Craft beer
-Dancing & music
$30 Party Tickets (7:30 pm – 11:00 pm)
-Two drink tickets for cocktails and Union Craft Beer
-Dancing & music
David Koslowski of Baby’s On Fire spinning soul music from the 1950s onward.
Festive attire. Find inspiration from your favorite decade of soul and Motown!
This event is a major fundraiser in support of BAF and its many programs, from fostering the next generation of architects, to promoting the value of Baltimore’s architectural legacy to the public. Programs include tours, scholarships, publications, exhibitions, and the annual Doors Open Baltimore event.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization. Tickets are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
About 1128 N. Calvert Street
View interior photos on the Berkshire Hathaway listing
The Gilded Age mansion at the southwest corner of Calvert and Biddle Streets, like any great mansion, has a past full of stories and interesting characters. It was built in 1891 for Theodore Hooper of the Hooper family that made their fortune manufacturing cotton duck three miles up the Jones Falls in Woodberry. Architect Charles Carson, a founder of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, designed the home. Carson was close to the family. He designed the mansion for Theodore’s brother James across from Goucher Hall (Baltimore Lab School today, 2200 St. Paul St.), which Carson designed for the Woman’s College of Baltimore and which the Hoopers helped fund.
Theodore Hooper died in September 1906, and by November, the home was sold to Richard White, a merchant who did much of his trade in Indian burlap. The Whites were an elite Baltimore family whose members could be found in the society section of the Baltimore Sun and serving as trustees of venerable Baltimore institutions. Richard was a great-nephew of Johns Hopkins and a keen golfer who led the charge to establish the first golf club in Baltimore. He didn’t stay long at Calvert Street. Within a year, he handed the home off to his brother Miles White, Jr., a banker.
The Whites lived at 1128 N. Calvert Street for eleven years. His wife, Virginia, was an avid collector of antique American silver and furniture. Much of her Maryland silver collection went to the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 1938, she saved the Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis from dissolution and acquired much of the furniture for the colonial masterpiece designed by William Buckland. She was president of the house museum until her death in 1954. Their daughter Sara loved dogs. Sara owned a wiry Welsh terrier (that could be found in the classified ads under the title “lost dog” from time to time), a Russian wolfhound and Pomeranian. When a major North American dog show came to town in 1912, Sara was one of many high society dog owners who entered her pups in a field of 550 contestants. The following year, the Sun covered her as one of the debutantes of the season.
The Whites moved out in 1928 and the mansion passed to lawyer James Clark Murphy, who soon sold it to the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1929. The Josephites had been in Baltimore since 1871, a Roman Catholic Order devoted to missionary work for African Americans. The order originally worked out of a former hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue and began to set up parishes and schools during a time when institutions were completely segregated and few education opportunities were available to African Americans. The Josephites converted much of the building to office use, but kept the mansion intact. They published the Harvest, the order’s magazine, out of the building. The publication became a major chronicle of the order and the issues facing African Americans from Reconstruction onward.
The Josephites worked out of 1128 N. Calvert Street for 87 years.They grew to establish schools and parishes throughout the South and in Baltimore established St. Francis Xavier, St, Peter Claver, and St. Veronica. The Josephites lifted countless Baltimoreans including those who became leaders in city and state government. The order moved out of 1128 N. Calvert Street in 2016 and the building is currently on the market.
History compiled by Nathan Dennies, Baltimore Architecture Foundation
Thank You to Our Event Sponsors
Whitney Bailey Cox & Magnani, LLC
Lewis Contractors
Belair Road Supply
Sponsorship Opportunities Available
Select the sponsor tickets from the Eventbrite ticket box. Sponsorship is a great way to bring exposure to your company while supporting BAF initiatives!
Major Sponsor ($500) – Logo on website and promotional materials, and 1 comp cocktail reception ticket.
Sponsor ($250) – Company name on website and promotional materials, and 1 comp party ticket.
