History of St. Mary's College of Maryland

St. Mary's College of Maryland, originally known as St. Mary's Female Seminary, began in 1840 as a secular state-sponsored boarding school for women. Since 1966 it has been a four-year public liberal arts college and in 1992 it became a designated public honors college. One of only two in the nation to hold such a distinction at the time.

The college’s history spans from the early colonial days of St. Mary's City through to the present, including the establishment of religious tolerance and its later loss, long periods of oppression followed by the expansion of freedom as the result of the American Civil War, and through the 19th and 20th centuries to the modern-day public honors college.

On its special research capacity,"Center for the Study of Democracy: Purpose and Inspiration for Our Work", St. Mary's College of Maryland, CFSOD, the school also researches and studies the following historic events and periods as they relate to the local area:

Background

Colonial setting

Seventeenth century

St. Mary's College of Maryland is located on the original site of Maryland's first colony, St. Mary's City,Kenneth K. Lam, "Unearthing early American life in St. Mary's City: St. Mary's City is an archaeological jewel on Maryland's Western Shore", Baltimore Sun, August 30, 2013, http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/08/unearthing-early-american-life-in-st-marys-city/#1 which was also the first capital of Maryland and is considered to be the birthplace of religious freedom in America."Reconstructing the Brick Chapel of 1667" Page 1, See section entitled "The Birthplace of Religious Freedom"

Colonial St. Mary's City was actually only a town and at its peak had between 500 and 600 residents. However, as the colony quickly expanded and settlements spread throughout the Eastern part of what is now Maryland, the town remained the capitol and representatives would travel from all over the colony to participate in the Maryland General Assembly, the colony's first legislative body.

The Colony was founded under a mandate by the colonial proprietor, Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore of England, that the new settlers engage in religious tolerance of each other.Dr. Lois Green Carr, "Margaret Brent (ca. 1601-1671)", MSA SC 3520-2177, Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series), http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/002100/002177/html/bio.html The first settlers were both Protestant and Catholic during a time of persecution of Catholics. This mandate was unprecedented at the time, as England had been wracked by religious conflict for centuries.

Original Native American village

St. Mary's College, which has a close partnership with Historic St. Mary's City,"Anthropology Department: Historic St. Mary's City", St. Mary's College of Maryland describes close and multi-leveled relationship between Historic St. Mary's City and St. Mary's College of Maryland was able to put together the following events through a combination or archeological and historic research."Anthropology Department: Historic St. Mary's City", St. Mary's College of Maryland describes close and multi-leveled relationship between Historic St. Mary's City and St. Mary's College of Maryland

In 1634, at the time of the arrival of the first colonists, there was a Native American village on the site that was a part of the Yaocomico branch of the Piscataway Indian Nation."The Founding of St. Mary's City: The Colonists and the Yaocomaco", Historic St. Mary's City, http://hsmcwitchottproject.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html"Founding of Maryland - Educational Project for Elementary and Middle School Students", Maryland State Archives Website, Maryland Public Television and Maryland State Archives (January–February 2003), Archives of Maryland, (Biographical Series) Leonard Calvert (ca. 1606-1647), MSA SC 3520-198, written by Maria A. Day, MSA Archival Intern http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/000100/000198/html/lcalvbio.html Archeological research shows the presence of native peoples in the area going back more than 10,000 years.The colonists initially lived in Indian longhouses called "Witchotts""The Founding of St. Mary's City: The Colonists and the Yaocomaco", Historic St. Mary's City, http://hsmcwitchottproject.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

When the colonists first came ashore, the paramount chief of the Yaocomico was already well aware of Europeans due to earlier contact with explorers and traders, as well as news from Virginia tribes that were already co-existing with British colonial settlements. The chief was keen to establish trade with the English and he was also in the process of relocating his people due to war with another tribe. Soon after the new colonists arrived in what is now St. Mary's City, he ordered the Indian village cleared and he sold it to the settlers."The Founding of St. Mary's City: The Colonists and the Yaocomaco", Historic St. Mary's City, http://hsmcwitchottproject.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

The colonists initially lived in Indian longhouses from the prior village, along with some remaining Yaocomico people who had stayed behind to help them. During this period, the Yaocomico taught the colonists how to survive in Maryland's challenging environment."The Founding of St. Mary's City: The Colonists and the Yaocomaco", Historic St. Mary's City, http://hsmcwitchottproject.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html The chief also later put his daughter, the Piscataway Indian princess, Mary Kittamaquund,"Margaret Brent (ca. 1601–1671)" Monica C. Witkowski, Encyclopedia Virginiana, See section entitled "Migration to Maryland", second paragraph http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Brent_Margaret_ca_1601-1671 under the guardianship of a prominent colonist, Margaret Brent,"Margaret Brent (ca. 1601–1671)" Monica C. Witkowski, Encyclopedia Virginiana, See section entitled "Migration to Maryland", second paragraph http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Brent_Margaret_ca_1601-1671 so that Mary could learn English ways and become a bridge and a translator between the two cultures. Her English first name was given to her by the colonists.

1640s: first law requiring religious tolerance

In the early days of St. Mary's City the young colony suffered from many problems, including periods of violent religious conflict"Notable Maryland Women: Margaret Brent, Lawyer, Landholder, Entrepreneur", Winifred G. Helms, PhD, Editor, Margaret W. Mason, section author, Tidewater Publishers, Cambridge Maryland, 1977, page 5, republished online by the Maryland State Archives: Online manual, http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/002100/002177/pdf/notable.pdf between Protestants and Catholics, in spite of Lord Baltimore's mandate of tolerance,Jo-Ann Pilardi, Baltimore Sun, "Margaret Brent: a Md. founding mother", March 05, 1998 as well as disease and the establishment of slavery.The Maryland State Archives and the University of Maryland at College Park, "A Guide to the History of Slavery in Maryland" section entitled "II The Plantation Revolution", page 7, 2007, http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/intromsa/pdf/slavery_pamphlet.pdf Nevertheless, after a period of religious fighting, the residents of St. Mary's City were finally able to establish peace between religious groups for more than 40 years under the Maryland Toleration Act, the first law mandating religious freedom and religious tolerance for people of all Christian faiths, which was conceived, written and ratified by the Maryland Assembly in St. Mary's City.

1641: Possibly first person of African heritage to be elected to a legislative assembly in North America Mathias de Sousa was an indentured servant in early St. Mary's City,Maryland State Archives, Teaching Maryland History, "Mathias de Sousa" http://teaching.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000000/000003/html/t3.html"Matthias da Sousa: Colonial Maryland's Black, Jewish Assemblyman", Susan Rosenfeld Falb, MARYLAND HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, VOL. 73, No. 4, DECEMBER 1978 http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000293/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_293.pdf possibly of African and Portuguese heritage, who gained his freedom and established himself as a trader and a mariner in the colony. He was elected to the Maryland Assembly in St. Mary's City, the colony's first legislative body. He traded primarily with the Piscataway Indian nation and also worked as a sailor for the colonial leadership.

1648: first woman petitions for the right to vote in America

Margaret Brent, a business-savvy and quite successful Catholic settler in St. Mary's City at the time, petitioned for the right to vote in the Maryland Assembly (also in St. Mary's City, the new colonial capitol). This was an unheard of request for a Woman of that era and made Brent very possibly the first woman in America to demand the right to vote. However the Maryland colonial Assembly denied her request.

In the male-dominated frontier environment of the colonies, far away from the courts of England, Brent was also forced to defend her legal right to manage her own estate before the Maryland Assembly. She won, making her the first woman in English North America to stand for herself in a court of law and before an assembly. She also would eventually demand the right to vote.

Brent also served as an attorney before the colonial court, mostly representing women of the colony. She is considered to have been very legally astute. Surviving records indicate that she pleaded at least 134 cases. Although she did not explicitly campaign for women's rights in general, she is credited for having done so implicitly.

1690s: renewed persecution of Catholics

After four decades of peace between Protestants and Catholics, new religious conflict erupted and the Catholic colony leadership was overthrown. Catholics lost the right to vote"The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Volume I: To 1877", By Paul Boyer, Clifford Clark, Karen Halttunen, Sandra Hawley, Joseph Kett, "Chapter: 4 The Bonds of Empire: 1660-1740" page 70, Cengage Learning, publisher, January 1, 2012 and were prevented from worshipping in publicFrancis Graham Lee, "All Imaginable Liberty: The Religious Liberty Clauses of the First Amendment", page 22, University Press of America (June 6, 1995) (prohibitions that lasted in Maryland for nearly a century, until the late 1700s) and the new Protestant leadership moved the capitol to Annapolis.

Abandonment of St. Mary's City

With the capitol moved and widespread persecution of the Catholic community, St. Mary's City was abandonedFrank D. Roylance, Evening Sun, "They're unearthing more than a chapel at St. Mary's site BURIED PAST", November 13, 1990 and became a ghost town, except for use as farmland.

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

1700–1864: Antebellum plantation period

St. Mary's College, in partnership with Historic St. Mary's City,"Archaeology, Narrative, and the Politics of the Past: The View from Southern Maryland", Page 41, Julia King, University of Tennessee Press; July 30, 2012, , is engaged in various research projects related to the following events and the historic setting"Slave Dwelling Project: Talk and Tour", St. Mary's College of Maryland, schedule of events, http://www.smcm.edu/calendar/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=3118 in which they occurred:

Entrenchment

During the 1700s the institution of slavery grew massively in Maryland and became more and more legally entrenched. By the late 1600s there had been about 1,000 slaves in all the different settlements of the Maryland colony combined, but during the first 75 years of the 1700s, the number of enslaved people increased to nearly 100,000, and kept growing.