Detailing the salacious history of Baltimore and its denizens from the city's earliest history up to and through Prohibition.
With nicknames such as "Mob Town" and "Syphilis City," no one would deny that Baltimore has its dark side. Before shows such as "The Wire" and "Homicide: Life on the Streets" brought the city's crime rate to national attention, locals entertained themselves with rumors surrounding the mysterious death of writer Edgar Allan Poe and stories about Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who spent time in a Baltimore area sanitarium in the 1930s.
Tourists make the Inner Harbor one of the most traveled areas in the country, but if they would venture a few streets north to The Block on Baltimore Street they would see an area once famous for its burlesque shows. It is only the locals who would know to continue north on St. Paul to the Owl Bar, a former speakeasy that still proudly displays some of its Prohibition era paraphernalia.
Lauren R. Silberman is a program coordinator with the American Association of Museums and served as the education coordinator for the Jewish Museum of Maryland in Baltimore. She has also given local tours with Baltimore Tours, LLC. A graduate of George Washington University, she previously authored The Jewish Community of Baltimore (Arcadia Publishing, 2008). She lives with her husband and dog. In her free time, she loves to paint and write. You can learn more about her and her projects at www.lsilberman.com.