Maryland Center for History and Culture. The Maryland Center for History and Culture, formerly the Maryland Historical Society, founded on March 1, 1844, is the oldest cultural institution in the U.S.
state of Maryland. The organization collects, preserves, and interprets objects and materials reflecting Maryland's diverse heritage.
The MCHC has a museum, library, holds educational programs, and publishes scholarly works on Maryland. The campus of the Maryland Center for History and Culture is located in the neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland at 610 Park Avenue.
This location is the main building of the MCHC, which has been housed at the Enoch Pratt House since 1919. The organization changed its name from the Maryland Historical Society to the Maryland Center for History and Culture in September 2020 shortly after celebrating its 175th anniversary.
The Enoch Pratt House was originally built in 1847 and was presented to MdHS in 1916 by Ms. Mary Washington Keyser as a tribute to her husband, H. Irvine Keyser who was a member of MdHS from 1835 until his death in 1916. Enoch Pratt is a well known philanthropist who created the Enoch Pratt Free Library and gave substantial contributions to the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore, the Maryland Science Center, and the Maryland School for the Deaf. The MCHC has published a quarterly journal, now entering completing its 103rd year. The Maryland Historical Magazine is a peer-r