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Welcome to Digital Maryland

Who We Are

Digital Maryland is a collaborative, statewide digital preservation program of the Enoch Pratt Free Library / Maryland State Library Resource Center. The goal of the project is to facilitate the digitization, digital preservation, and access for historical and cultural documents, images, audio, and video that record Maryland’s history.

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Partnership

Partnering with Digital Maryland has many benefits and can be adjusted to suit the needs of the organization or collection.

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New Collections

Maryland Vice Commission Reports - Enoch Pratt Free Library

During the early twentieth century, when progressive reformers were attempting to address problems resulting from industrialism and urbanization, Vice Commissions were set up in cities across the country. Their primary concerns were so-called “white slavery,” a term that was used for the practice of organized coercion of unwilling persons into prostitution, and other crimes involving the commercialized sex industry. Historians often point to fears arising from increased numbers of immigrants and increased urbanization as providing the impetus for the establishment of these commissions.

The Maryland Vice Commission was appointed by Maryland Governor Phillips Lee Goldsborough in 1913. It began to report out in 1915. Its main concern was prostitution, whether to keep it segregated in vice districts, where there were disorderly houses, or to break up the vice districts, which could result in streetwalking and pimping. Because investigators discovered such an abundance of vice, the report was controversial and caused official embarrassment, especially in Baltimore. In fact, Baltimore’s mayor called it, “entirely untrue, improper and unfair.” The typewritten, marked-up volumes digitized here are from the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Maryland Department. Only the fifth volume was commercially published.

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Venice Beach Community Archive

Venice Beach is a private, water oriented community situated between the Annapolis Neck area and the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It shares its border with Highland Beach and its community where collectively the area would be known as "the beach". The two areas were developed as a private community where Blacks and African Americans could enjoy their summers without racial prejudice. The two communities would celebrate and share many traditions together with how closely they interacted with each other.

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Hagerstown Community Archive

Hagerstown Junior College Student Newspapers - Hagerstown Community College

The Hagerstown Junior College Newspaper enjoyed a long run from the college’s founding in 1946 until 2014. It highlights the current issues facing college students during pivotal events in history and the fun day-to-day goings-on in the local area. The newspaper underwent several name changes over the years, reflecting the changing school dynamics. The original name “The Night Crier” was due to the fact the college only offered night classes while it was located in the town high school building. In 1968, the current campus location was purchased and the newspaper’s name was updated to “Campus Crier.” This collection includes issues from 1946-1974.

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