Page 28 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 5 - 2024

PORT BUSINESS
Connected
by the Water
BALTIMORE MUSEUM
OF INDUSTRY AIMS TO TELL
THE PORT’S STORIES
BY DERON SNYDER /
Images Courtesy of Baltimore Museum of Industry
statement doesn’t specifically mention the
The Baltimore Museum of Industry (BMI) mission
Port of Baltimore. Nor does the museum have
a massive exhibit devoted to the waterfront.
The mission is to “interpret the diverse and
significant human stories behind labor and innovation in
Baltimore” and inspire reflection on “the intersection of
work and society.”
But BMI Executive Director Anita Kassof said the Port
and the museum’s work are inextricably intertwined.
“Baltimore grew up from a colonial town into a major
world-class city due to the Port, because of our strategic
location,” Kassof said. “So implicitly, the Port is reflected
in a lot of our exhibitions. Explicitly, we would actually like
to have an exhibition dedicated specifically to the Port of
Baltimore and we’d been working on conceptualizing that
before the pandemic derailed our plans.”
[26] The Port of Baltimore ■ ISSUE 5 / 2024
The tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on
March 26 has put BMI’s plans back on track.
“This is our opportunity to revisit those discussions and
finally create the exhibition about the Port of Baltimore that
belongs at the Museum of Industry,” Kassof said. “Because
when the bridge collapsed, there was a moment when the eyes
of the world were on Baltimore. Everybody recognized how
logistically essential we are. … It was eye-opening because the
Port is kind of hidden in plain sight in this community.”
A Missing Link in Baltimore
Like most folks, Kassof woke up to news that the Key
Bridge had collapsed and bridge workers were feared dead.
She realized right away that the incident would impact the
museum, which had previously scheduled meetings with
people from the Port and the city. But then she thought
about everything more broadly.
“What I realized is that the museum had a really
important role to play in documenting and telling the story
of the Key Bridge and its implications,” Kassof said. “Our
name is Baltimore Museum of Industry. But we’re really not
about machines so much as about workers and work.”
Beyond the families of the unfortunate men who lost
their lives, Kassof knew there’d be significant ramifications
for workers throughout the supply chain. Shortly after the
collapse, the museum secured funding to collect oral histories
of affected individuals, stories that Kassof hopes become part
of a long-term exhibition on the Port. An advisory committee
and oral historian have begun work and the museum has
announced a collecting effort that encourages donations
related to individuals’ experiences with the Key Bridge.
“Our goal is for this to become a much longer-term,