On my way to Fort McHenry, I drove down Hull Street to where it meets the harbor. I was in search of The Baltimore Immigration Memorial said to be located in Locust Point, disembarkation place for countless immigrants in the past two centuries.
I found stark black letters on gray concrete marking the site. Also, there was a laminated sign about two square feet which said that between 1821 and 1914, 1.5 million immigrants mostly from Europe and Asia, and yes, including slaves from Africa, arrived first in Baltimore before some took off for other points.
Was this sign the memorial? Or was it the odd collection of concrete cones and spheres that sat with no further explanation on a tiered platform overlooking the waterfront?
Yet these are the heroes who are celebrated in bold endorsements of their fame and apparently power to sway public sentiment.
In denigrating contrast, the 1.5 million immigrants, many of whom risked life and limb to come here (yes, my forebears were among them) did not have their personalities known or stories detailed. True, information given on line says that The Baltimore Immigration Project is collecting stories of immigrants, but to what degree are these being publicized and where are they put on view?
The question remains: Whom do we really celebrate and what values do we promote in the public square?
Joyce Wolpert, Baltimore