Video crews from C-SPAN are filming in Annapolis this week, highlighting the history of the state capital for programs that will air on the cable channel in September.
Mayor Josh Cohen said the public affairs network's focus on Annapolis is "a really cool promotional opportunity" for the city to be seen by a national audience.
The segments are part of C-SPAN's 2013 Local Cities Tour, in which producers and crews are visiting more than two dozen small and mid-size cities to document contributions to America. The Annapolis-themed segments will air Sept. 7 and 8 on C-SPAN2 and C-SPAN3.
Cohen said Annapolis is a perfect fit for the network's theme because it's a town that doesn't just have historical buildings and monuments, but "is a place where history actually occurred."
C-SPAN producer Debbie Lamb said her team is visiting the State House, the Naval Academy, the Maryland State Archives, the Annapolis Maritime Museum, the Banneker-Douglass Museum, which showcases African-American history; and the Charles Carroll House, home to a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
For a segment on the C-SPAN Book TV channel, crews are interviewing local authors, including Rebecca Morris, author of "A Low, Dirty Place: The Parole Camps of Annapolis, MD 1862-1865"; Jane McWilliams, who wrote "Annapolis, City on the Severn: A History"; and Bill Dudley, author of "Maritime Maryland: A History." The crews are also visiting the rare book collections at the Naval Academy and St. John's College.
Annapolis is the only Maryland city on C-SPAN's 2013 Local Cities Tour. Other nearby cities include Alexandria, Va., and Dover, Del. The tour was launched in 2011 as a means to get C-SPAN "out of the beltway" and into communities, Lamb said.
This is the latest star turn on the small screen for Annapolis. Last month, the city was featured on the QVC shopping channel, which broadcast from the roof of the Fleet Reserve Club along the waterfront in downtown Annapolis.
Also last month, the Food Network came to Annapolis to film an episode of its "Great Food Truck Race" show, in which teams operating three food trucks sold meals around town. The Food Network show has its season premiere Aug. 11, with the Annapolis episode scheduled to air Sept. 15.