Upcoming Events

August Lunch and Learn
Voices of the Maryland 400: Maryland's Revolutionary War Soldiers at the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776

Thursday, August 13, 2026 at 1:00 pm
Presented by Owen Lourie
Online Event

In August 1776, the Continental Army suffered a terrible defeat at the Battle of Brooklyn, the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. The battle nearly saw the complete destruction of the American army, but a desperate stand by a contingent of Maryland soldiers helped to stave off the British and allow the Americans to fight another day.

Join Owen Lourie, author of the newly published book, Finding the Maryland 400, which tells the story of these soldiers' lives, released in time for the 250th anniversary of the battle. Learn more about these soldiers, now called the Maryland 400, and hear first-hand accounts of their actions at the battle. This talk will also discuss the lives of several soldiers from the unit, exploring them and their families during and after the Revolutionary War.

Owen Lourie is a senior archivist at the Maryland State Archives specializing in Maryland government and military history during the colonial era and early republic. He holds an M.A. in history from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a B.A. from Kenyon College in American Studies. He is the author of Finding the Maryland 400, a social history of the Maryland Line chronicling the soldiers of the Maryland 400 during the Revolutionary War.

September Lunch and Learn
Let Us Alone: The Origins of Baltimore's Police State

Thursday, September 10, 2026 at 1:00 pm
Presented by Mike Casiano
Online Event

In this lecture, Mike Casiano will draw from his recent book, Let Us Alone, to explore the racial origins of policing in Baltimore. The lecture will detail two interconnected themes. First, it will examine how policing evolved from an inefficient and vigilante-driven system into a modern and paramilitary endeavor focused on suppressing citizens and maximizing the power, wealth, and reach of capitalists. Second, it will analyze how decades of racial antagonism shaped Baltimore policing into an apparatus primarily oriented around subduing Black freedom. Specifically, the talk will focus on the racialized nature of public order policing, the militarization of the Baltimore police, and violations of due process in the court system.

Mike Casiano is an associate professor in UMBC's Department of American Studies and a core faculty member in UMBC's Public Humanities minor. His book, Let Us Alone: The Origins of Baltimore's Police State, examines the relationship between policing, municipal governance, and race in post-Civil War Baltimore. Mike's next project is a labor history of early twentieth century port cities in the Mid-Atlantic that examines the relationship between policing, unionization, and race. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Oxford Bibliographies, the Journal of Southern History, and the Journal of Urban History.