About Our Presentation
Baltimore’s most famous ship caulker, Frederick Douglass, described his fellow Black caulkers as “a circle of honest and warm-hearted friends” and declared that he “owe[d] much to the society of these young men.” Join us to learn more about the lives of the ship caulkers and their families through the story of Israel Jones, a president of the Caulkers Trade Union Association. Jones and others worked in the middle of the 1800s to build a strong Black community with philanthropic organizations, education/debating societies, and churches. His story is one of the many that the Friends of the Ship Caulkers’ Houses and the Preservation Society will tell through the ongoing stabilization, rehabilitation, and interpretation of the Ship Caulkers’ Houses at 612-614 S Wolfe Street in Fell’s Point. Join architectural historian Sarah Groesbeck to learn about Israel Jones, the Caulkers' Houses, and more.

About Our Presenter
Sarah Groesbeck has a B.A. in Art History from Virginia Tech and an M.A. in Historic Preservation from The George Washington University. She is an architectural historian with the Maryland Environmental Service and MDOT State Highway Administration and a board member of the Friends of the Ship Caulkers Houses and the Preservation Society.