August 1, 2025 • 44 mins
In this episode, “The UMB Pulse” hears the story of how a rare portrait of University of Maryland School of Medicine founder John Davidge was hiding in a shuttered Baltimore restaurant and discusses its significance to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
Hosts Dana Rampolla and Charles Schelle, MS, talk with Larry Pitrof, executive director of the Medical Alumni Association (MAA) at UMB, and Meg Fairfax Fielding, director of the history of Maryland medicine at the Maryland State Medical Society, about the astonishing recovery of a long-lost portrait of UMB’s founding father, John Beale Davidge.
Learn how this 200-year-old painting was found during an estate auction at a former Baltimore restaurant and listen to the stories behind the significance of Davidge and historical treasures at UMB. Pitrof also shares the efforts to preserve UMB’s rich medical heritage and the current restoration updates on the iconic Davidge Hall.
Davidge Hall is open to UMB students, faculty, and staff from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visitors who wish to visit and see the portrait and other artifacts in Davidge Hall should contact MAA in advance at 410-706-7454 or maa@medalumni.umaryland.edu.
00:00 Discovering a Hidden Treasure: The Lost Portrait of John Beale Davidge
02:38 Meet the Experts: Larry Pitrof and Meg Fairfax Fielding
03:50 The Significance of John Beale Davidge to UMB
06:19 The Incredible Discovery at Bertha's Mussels
08:12 Authenticating and Preserving the Portrait
17:48 The Historical Importance of Davidge Hall
21:06 Restoration Efforts and Future Plans for Davidge Hall
26:52 The Value of Historical Artifacts and Collaboration
42:17 Public Display and Access to the Portrait
43:55 Final Thoughts and Acknowledgements
Listen to The UMB Pulse on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you like to listen. The UMB Pulse is also now on YouTube.
Visit our website at umaryland.edu/pulse or email us at umbpulse@umaryland.edu.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Charles Sche (00:00):
one man's trash is another man's treasure, and we found
(00:04):
a goldmine potentially, uh, for theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore, you've
probably seen it all over the news.
The Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore Fishbowl.
It's been on tv.
We are talking about a longlost portrait of UMB's Founding
Father John Beale Davidge.
Dan Rampolla (00:25):
Yeah, recently, well, recently, a couple of
months ago, it was found by, um,well, we'll tell the whole story.
We don't wanna give away too many, toomany secrets, but it was recently found
after a restaurant called Bertha'sMussels Maybe somebody remembers the
stickers that I think the stickersused to always be on, on bumpers, and
they would say, Eat Bertha's MusselsSo Bertha's was a local establishment,
(00:45):
very well known in Fells Point,closed down a couple of years ago
when the owners retired and justrecently they had an estate auction.
And through that auction thislittle treasure was found.
Charles Sch (01:01):
We've done a series before on, UMB's Hidden Treasures,
Summer Roadshow episodes, and,and so Larry has been on before.
Larry Pitrof is, is who I'm talkingabout from the, uh, Maryland
Medical Alumni Association.
If you've listened to our podcastbefore and with Larry on here, you've
learned a little bit about Davidge Hall.
Which you'll hear about again.
(01:22):
And he had that another incredible find,uh, a couple years ago with Moonlight
Graham, the University of MarylandSchool of Medicine student, who you
probably better know as , a characterin the Field of Dreams movie like.
Who would've thunk it?
And so another nice summertime findis why we're bringing Larry, uh, on
(01:43):
the program again, along with MegFairfax Fielding, um, who, uh, Dana,
tell us a little bit about Meganand how she kind of plays into this.
Dan Ra (01:51):
Yeah, she's the director of the history of Maryland Medicine
at MedChi, the Maryland State MedicalSociety, and she had a friend who just
happened to hear about a certain portraitthat you will learn has great meaning to
the University of Maryland, Baltimore, andmost specifically our School of Medicine.
Charles Sche (02:09):
So without further ado, let's take a little antique road
show as it seems, uh, and listen toLarry and Meg's incredible discovery
of the portrait of John Davidge.
Jena Frick (02:25):
You are listening to the heartbeat of the University of
Maryland, Baltimore, the UMB Pulse.
Dan Ram (02:38):
Welcome to both of you.
I would love if you could start outjust by introducing yourselves, share
your role at UMB, your connection withthe Maryland Medical Society, because
I imagine there's plenty of UMB alumniinvolved with the medical society.
Meg F (02:52):
I'm Meg Fairfax Fielding.
I'm the head of the History ofMedicine in Maryland for MedChi,
the Maryland State Medical Society.
And, uh, we have a long timeconnection with, uh, um, university
School of Medicine because in1807 we help found the school.
Our official name is the Medical andChirurgical Faculty of of Maryland,
(03:17):
and the faculty part comes fromthat we were the original faculty of
what is now the School of Medicine.
And so I've worked with Larry for eightor 10 years now on different things.
Larry Pitrof (03:30):
Yeah.
And I'm Larry Pitrof, executive directorof the Medical Alumni Association.
I've been at the university since1994, and Meg is absolutely correct
when she says, uh, we collaborate ona number of things with Med Chi And,
uh, this was, uh, what people are gonnabe hearing about today is just, um,
one of them that we're very proud of.
Dan Rampolla (03:50):
Well, thank you both for joining us.
Um, Larry, before we dive into theactual discovery, can you give us a
little bit of background about JohnDavidge and his significance to UMB?
Larry Pitrof (04:01):
Well, um, you have to take yourself back to
early medicine, uh, in America.
And, um, medicine, uh, organized medicinewas, um, was distrusted back then.
Physical diagnosis was in itsinfancy because the profession
wasn't really regulated untilMedChi came around in 1799.
Uh, doctors often found themselvescompeting with, uh, barbershop,
(04:24):
surgeons, um, people of the ministry.
Um, street Corner Apothecaries.
Uh, and then there was this groupof organized doctors, medical degree
doctors, largely who came from, receivedtheir medical educations in Europe.
And they did these crazy thingslike dissected dead bodies to
learn how the body functioned.
(04:46):
So damage grew up, uh, in that era,and he was educated at, um, in Glasgow
University of Glasgow, uh, was originallyfrom Annapolis, returned to Maryland,
uh, and opened up a private practicein Harford County, and then eventually
moved down to, uh, the Baltimore areawhere he was advocating for the founding
of a medical college in addition tothe founding of a medical society that
(05:09):
would help, uh, regulate the profession.
And there was a series of Yellow Feverepidemics in the late 1700s, uh, that,
um, really allowed the school or theeffort to found a school, uh, to gain some
ground because, uh, it was horrible forthe state of, um, Maryland and actually
the entire eastern seaboard , when yellowFever appeared, it was usually in summer,
(05:34):
uh, and it happened in low-lying areas.
I think Meg will confirmedthat most of them in Baltimore
started down in Fells Point.
That, uh, Davidge became a realrecognized figure because nobody
understood what caused yellow fever.
And there was a. A large scale effortto clear out when that happened.
Most people headed for higher grounds,including many of the doctors who were
(05:54):
responsible for treating their patients.
And Davidge was one of theseindividuals that had a, a belief that,
uh, yellow fever was not contagious.
He stayed in Baltimore and he provideda real sense of calm in the city at
a time when it was really needed.
And so that was, uh,David asserting himself.
As a, uh, an eminent physician oof the day in in early Baltimore.
Charles Schelle (06:19):
It, it's an incredible story about John Davidge,
um, and, and his connection to, toBaltimore then in the history here.
And, um, it's great havingyou on again, Larry.
Um, we had you on a couple yearsago talking about the discovery
of some letters and, and documentsinvolving Moonlight Graham,
and who would've thought herecoincidentally near another
(06:40):
All-Star game break maybe from, withMajor League Baseball that we're
talking about another discovery.
You, you seem to have a knack of these,uh, late spring, um, uh, discoveries.
,Larry Pitrof: It'll be lucky than
Yeah, exactly.
So, um, so I'm gonna bring up the, um,portrait here in a second and share.
(07:01):
So if you're listening to thispodcast, this is a very visual
podcast for, for this episode.
So.
If you haven't, visit our YouTubechannel, uh, for the UMB Pulse.
Subscribe.
Watch this podcast so you can see,see what we're about to walk through.
Um, here.
So as we bring up the now infamousportrait, um, tell us, uh, about
(07:24):
the background of the oldest knownportrait of John Davidge being found
at Bertha's Muscles in Fells Point.
Meg, how did it come to your attention?
Meg Fi (07:35):
Um, I got a text message from an old friend of mine, an old sailing
buddy of mine, and who I literally haveprobably not talked to in 10 years,
and she said, Hey, I'm cleaning outBertha's and found this painting and I
know that you're with a medical society.
And I frequently post, um, picturesof some of the portraits we have.
(07:58):
We have about 120 portraits of physicians.
And she said, you know, Ithought you might be interested.
And I was like, as soon as I saw it,I knew it was John Davidge because,
um, I've seen pictures of him before.
We have a, an 1899, um, annals ofMedicine that covers the first century
of our being from 1799 to 1899.
(08:21):
And in it, there's a small, blackand white photograph of, um, what was
probably a portrait of John Davidge.
So I knew exactly who he was.
So she said, you know, let meknow if you're interested in it.
And you know, just, um, so I sent her afigure and in the meantime, this was the
(08:44):
day that Bertha's was being auctioned off.
So there was a lot going on and they weretrying to clear out the building, um,
for the buildings to be auctioned off.
So, um.
I, she, they accepted theprice that I had sent them.
And then on Saturday morning, sothis was Thursday, Friday, so it
was between Thursday and Monday.
(09:05):
So Saturday morning wentover and picked it up.
Um, the owner of Bertha's,Tony Norris wanted to take a
picture, so I let him, um, and.
I said, where did you get it?
And he said, I, you know, I think I gotit a flea market or something like that.
And he said, I don't really remember.
(09:25):
And I barely remembered having it.
And you know.
They found it in a closet.
So anyway, I took, um, John homefor the weekend and looked at
him with under a black light.
Looked at the frame, you know,looked at the plaque on it.
It all seems to be prettyappropriate for the period.
And then Monday morning, uh, whenI got to the office, um, I, um,
(09:52):
emailed Larry and said, Hey, who?
Who, um, painted the portraitof John David that you have,
and that was when he told me.
They really didn't have oneand that it had been stolen.
And when he said it was stolen, Ijust was like, oh my god, you know,
I'm thinking, um, in possessionof stolen goods that you paid for.
(10:13):
Yeah.
So I was like, so he said, no, it wassmall and I think he said it was oval.
And um, clearly the portrait Ihave could not have ever been
that because it was much bigger.
So I said, you know, I found this portraitof, uh, John Davidge over the weekend,
or would you be interested in seeing it?
(10:34):
And, you know, I could picture Larryjumping out of his chair with excitement.
So, um, drove down later thatafternoon and, um, I think the, the
best part about it's, I actuallygot a really good parking space.
Um, so, um.
Took it over to see him and, andI had to stop and just put him
(10:55):
on the front step of Davidge Halland take a picture of him with the
Davidge Hall sign in the background.
So I took him upstairs to show Larry.
Um, um, he's down theresomewhere, the other he is.
Um, and then Larry, youcan take over from here.
Larry Pitrof (11:13):
Well, when the email came, we were really
stunned, to be honest with you.
Um, we had no idea anythinglike this even existed.
I knew when Meg emailedthat she knew what she had.
There was no question about it.
The thing you have to know about MegFielding is she's extremely knowledgeable.
Uh, she's selfless and, and, uh, she'salways working for the greater good.
(11:36):
And when the email came, I just saidto myself, well, here we go again.
You know, and I, I knewshe knew what she had.
And when she followed upwith the email with the.
With the portrait, it, I knewwe had something very special,
and it was just a matter of, of,um, her coming out and, and, uh.
Dropping it off to us and we,we had both agreed at the time
(11:58):
that it, it needs a little work.
And you can see by the image that therewas, uh, some slight damage to it.
But the reality is, you know, it's,it's a 200 year old, uh, portrait that
was sitting in a closet somewhere.
And so we agreed that it probablyneeds to have a little work done.
Uh, but make no mistake about it.
We, we, we posted it, we put itup on, in the for display, uh, an
(12:21):
hour after Meg left the building.
I, I should just add that after the, uh,the rendering that we had was stolen, uh,
back in the late 1990s, this was a timewhen, uh, Davidge Hall was open with a key
lock, and from eight until five, Mondaythrough Friday, it was open to the public.
You know, we get a lot of peoplewho like to come in and visit a
national historic landmark, andwe we're very welcoming for that.
(12:42):
You know, when it disappeared,we're not even sure.
All I remember is my former, uh, chairmanof my Davidge Hall committee, Mickey
Foxwell, the late Mickey Foxwell, camein and said, boy, what happened to the
rendering we had of Davidge up there?
And that was the first time Irealized it was it was gone.
So we had to file the police report,but we knew it was, it was long gone.
So.
In preparation for our bicentennialcelebration in 2007, uh, we commissioned
(13:06):
a portrait and it was based on photosfrom that rendering that we had that was
stolen, as well as some written accountsby Eugene Cordell, which brought out
Davidge's blue eyes and his appearance.
And, and we commissioned this portraitin 2005 with a, an artist down on
the Eastern Shore by the name of, um.
Laura Era at the Troika Gallery,and she did a wonderful job.
(13:28):
And the truth is we didn't realizehow good she did until Meg brought
this painting in because the tworeally have a striking resemblance.
But it was, you know, there was nosecret to what we were gonna be doing.
We, we were retired the uh, thecommissioned Davidge portrait and, and
we, um, we displayed the, the current one.
And, and, uh, she and I bothrefer to it as the, the Mona Lisa.
(13:52):
Uh, when, when you look at it, I don'tknow if you, you, you folks have ever
been to the Louvre in Paris, but youknow, you walk around this enormous
museum and there are these busts and thesesculpted pieces that are just enormous.
And then you walk into the room whereMona Lisa is, and it's proportionately a
very small painting, but it's so powerfuland you get that agree with me or not.
(14:15):
Meg, you get that same feeling when youlook at the damage rendering, don't you?
Meg Fielding (14:18):
Mm-hmm.
You just, you, you get a feelingof who he is and, you know,
it's a very, it's well done.
I mean, and what we suspect that it wasdone, it, it, it says it was a copy and
we suspect it was a copy of a portraitthat had been done during his life.
And so it was the copy of that.
(14:38):
Um, but then there's some differencebetween, because A.L. Raska.
You know, it says New York,1844, but Raska wasn't born for
about another 20 years, so we'rejust not sure about all that.
I've seen one, um, something thatsays that it was, the portrait was
(15:01):
from Davidge's great-great-grandson,and then something else that
says it's from his grandson.
So there's some investigationto be done on the painting.
Um, but I think that's all sort ofsecondary to the fact that we, you have
the painting now and nobody knew about it.
Charles (15:21):
This really sounds like we need a special edition of Antiques
Road Show to show up here because it is.
This painting was acquired originallyin a flea market, was in a restaurant,
and then you paid some money for it.
Let's just say, I didn't know how muchyou paid for it, but it'd be a great
Antique Road Show moment if it waslike, I paid $20 for this and uh, and
(15:43):
now it's appraised at, you know what?
Meg (15:46):
Somebody asked me what the value of it was and I said, you know,
it might not have a lot of artisticvalue or whatever, but the value to
the university is, you know, you can'tput money on that because there's
never been a painting like that.
You know, there's never goingto be a painting like that.
It's irreplaceable and you know, themoney really actually doesn't matter.
(16:09):
Um, so, but there are actually acouple of people who work on road show
who are in Baltimore, so we may beable to get one or two of 'em, uh, to
come over and, and take a look at it.
But, um, yeah, so.
It's, it's, my father usedto say money and fair words.
So that's, that's what we need.
Charles Sche (16:28):
And, and to follow up on what you were talking about here
on the frame, we see, we see presentedby family of Walter Dorsey Davidge.
And so you, you were saying,is that the great grandson?
Meg Fielding (16:39):
It's also his grandson, so it's.
I've looked at the, some of the,um, the genealogy for, um, Davidge's
family and he does have a grandsonnamed Walter Dorsey Davidge.
Um.
I said we have a collection ofabout 120 portraits here that
go back to this late 1700s.
(17:01):
And this is like, the plaque is veryconsistent with what the plaques
on those portraits look like.
Um, you know, you can see that some ofthe gilding has rubbed off on the bottom
rail, which is really common becausewhen you're cleaning 'em, you tend to
clean the bottom rail, not the top rail.
Um, you know, the gilding is rightand the canvas is right for that.
(17:22):
Um.
Period of time.
So I suspect it's more his grandsonthan his great-great grandson,
'cause great-great grandson wouldbring it into the, you know, 1900s.
Charles Schelle (17:36):
How do you verify its authenticity?
Like who, who's available?
I, I mean we have great art museumsin, in the region, but like, who could
be tapped into to kind of help, helptrack down that, that art mystery?
Larry Pitrof (17:48):
I should also add that we're, we're reaching
out to the Davidge family.
Uh, we do keep in touch with acouple of the, of the descendants.
Uh, as a matter of fact, they had a, amini reunion of about 30 of them, uh, in
Davidge Hall about, uh, eight years ago.
And the name Dorsey Davidge isconsistent with the family lineage.
We've all seen that.
Um, and I'm hoping the family canhope, can help tie that together.
(18:11):
So.
The, the investigation does continue.
Um, but I would agree with Megbased on the, the portraits that
we have on display in the building.
Uh, this is a, a time period and asshe said, the name plate, uh, it's all
consistent with what we have in DavidgeHall right now with, uh, some of his
other colleagues who were, uh, workingbeside him back, back in that day.
Dan Rampolla (18:34):
That's so fun.
Um, backing up to what you hadsaid about, um, having the piece
commissioned, you said that, um,in reading some information, you
found out that he had blue eyes anda couple of other notable things.
Is there anything about this portraitthat is unique compared to the Davidge
imagery that you've seen before?
Larry Pitrof (18:54):
I, and personally, I, I haven't seen any.
It, it's, it's remarkably consistent.
Uh, when you look at the clothinghe's wearing, uh, the expression he
has on his face, uh, that was prettyconsistent with portraits that were
being done during that time period.
So I, I didn't notice any.
How about you, Meg?
Meg (19:10):
No, it's, um, it's similar to the one that's in our, Medical
Annals of Maryland, um, which was , oneof the Eugene Cordell publications.
Um, you know, he's wearing the samesort of cravat and coat and things like
that, but that's, you know, that's whateverybody wore at that point in time.
Um, so, you know, and that's why wesort of suspect that the picture was
(19:34):
done during, hi, it's a copy of apicture dur done during his lifetime.
So, and the blue eyes.
I think there's something maybe in theannals that says about his blue eyes.
And like a lot of times you can look ata photograph and tell somebody's got blue
eyes because that's what it looks like.
(19:56):
Um, not dark brown eyesor anything like that.
So.
Lar (20:00):
Largely the, the repository that we draw upon for the early history
in Mar Maryland is Eugene Cordell.
He was a graduate of the University ofMaryland and he was the first professor
of history at the medical school here.
And he spent, uh, the latter partof his life, uh, documenting the
early medicine, uh, in Maryland.
And it's been a terrific,uh, resource to us.
(20:21):
As a matter of fact, when I. Uh,published my book on the first
200 years during our bicentennial.
I was drawing largely, heavily upon hishistory for the first a hundred years,
Meg Fie (20:32):
I was seeing if I had a copy on my shelves, and I think it's
in the room next to me, so I don't,
Larry (20:37):
It's in the special room, Meg, where you gotta wear the gloves when
you open it up because it's so precious.
Meg (20:43):
No, I have about 12 copies of it, so it's like, yeah, whatever.
Um, yeah, so.
You know that a lot of theinformation is consistent.
So, you know, it, it's, it all followsa path and which leads us to, to, you
know, what we've sort of discern about it.
(21:05):
So,
Charles Schell (21:06):
Larry, um, move, moving over to Davidge Hall itself.
Obviously a huge part of, UMB's history.
Um, can you talk about the role of artworkin museum artifacts and preserving and
interpreting that legacy of Davidge Hall?
Larry Pitrof (21:22):
Yeah.
That's a really good, uh, questionand Meg's gonna smile when I when
I talk about this because thisrecent find is very consistent.
You know, our, our museum collectionis, has, has been assembled over
the past 200 years, largely by,I hate to say this, going into.
People's garbage cans.
Uh, so much of this, of this stuff getsdiscarded over the years because they
(21:46):
just don't understand the value and themedical school itself, you know, when
they move on to a different technology,they're so eager and excited about, about
moving ahead that they oftentimes forgetwhat they were, what they were
using 50 and 75 years ago.
And it oftentimes winds up in abasement somewhere when someone comes
along and says, this is just clutter.
We need to move on with this.
(22:07):
And, uh, some of us will rememberthe late, uh, Dr. Ted Woodward.
He, he was a professor of medicinehere for about 50 years, and he
would walk into the alumni office.
I can recount this severaltimes and say, Larry.
Here's, here's another artifactthat I was able to find for you.
And, uh, it, it's always something that,that was of, of terrific value to us.
(22:29):
So our museum in Davidge Hall, wedon't refer to it as a living museum.
It's really a museum that reflectsback on early medical education
in Maryland, because obviously thebuilding itself, the shell is the most
valuable piece of the collection, right?
Because it's the oldest existingfacility that we have in America
(22:50):
that was used for medical education.
So what we want to put into the buildingand display into the building, uh, are,
are these artifacts that tell a storyabout early medical education in, in
Maryland and in the United States since,you know, we were one of the, well, we
were the fifth oldest medical school, so.
Uh, there's a great story to telland we're delighted to te to tell it.
(23:12):
And, uh, again, you know, here's, here'sa a another piece now, in the past
month after 200 years, that's fi that'sfinding its way into, into Davidge Hall.
That helps us tell that story.
Charles Schel (23:23):
Keeping on, about the building, it's been undergoing
some work, some touch up, somefacelifts, and also giving some
modern comfort and, and conveniences.
Can you maybe update us a littlebit about, uh, where are we at
with some of the work going on?
Larry Pitrof (23:36):
Yeah.
Uh, touchups is a looselyuh, uh, used word.
Uh, this is, this is massive.
Uh, and it's restoration work.
Uh, it started about five, sixyears ago now, where we, we started
just by relocating the restrooms.
As you might expect, restroomswere not a part of, of the medical
building when it was constructed.
There were, there were outhousesand so when they were, when plumbing
(23:56):
was brought into the building.
Uh, the, the, uh, the restrooms were putin place is that today, by today's terms,
they, they, it wouldn't be an area whereyou'd like to have them in the building.
And so we relocated those and thenmoved ahead with a complete overhaul of
the HVAC system, the air conditioning,uh, Charles and, and, uh, Dana,
you've walked into Davidge Hall, youknow, in the last four or five years,
(24:19):
and it can be very uncomfortable.
It's warm during the.
Uh, the summer and cold duringthe, the, the, the winter.
Uh, and so that's, that'sbeen taken care of now.
And so we're now turning ourattention to the aesthetics.
Uh, but there's more to it than that.
Uh, there's a sprinkler system thathas to be changed out, an alarm
system that needs to be replaced.
So they're gonna be opening up walls and.
(24:41):
And, uh, manipulatingpipes and things like that.
And there's a lot of plaster repairand painting that's going to have
to be done in addition to whatis perhaps, uh, the, the highest
regarded room, uh, in the building.
And that's the anatomicaltheater on the third floor where
all of this original plasteron the dome has been crumbling,
uh, for the past 15 years now.
(25:03):
Uh, we replaced the, the, uh, theroof, uh, back in, uh, 2001 when we
completed the project, but due tosome design flaws and the earthquake
in 2011 that we all remember, uh,there was some structural damage
done and we've had a leaking problem.
And so there's some serious waterdamage that's going to be repaired,
uh, on the, uh, on the dome.
(25:25):
Uh, and, and that's that we're,we're very excited about it.
It isn't gonna be cheap, uh, butthis is work that's, that's really
critical to the aesthetics of thebuilding as well as the overall, um,
functionality of the building itself.
But none of that could get doneuntil the roof is replaced.
So I need to give a, uh, a shoutout to President Jarrell Um.
(25:46):
He has been instrumental in improvingthe campus for those of us who live
and work around, uh, the campus itself.
And Davidge Hall hasbeen a priority of his.
And so, uh, in addition to the, thefunding that the alumni are bringing
into this mix, we've been tenants inthe building since, uh, 1958 when we
(26:07):
actually saved the building from, uh,from being, uh, torn down and being
replaced by a modern teaching facility.
Uh, but, but Dr. Uh, Jarrell hasbeen instrumental in getting campus
funding, uh, to lead the project.
You know, we're, it's easy to find,uh, people to underwrite rooms, right?
Naming, rooming opportunities and thingslike that from a fundraising perspective.
(26:29):
But to try to convince someone thatwe need to change out the HVAC system,
it's not as easy as, as you think.
And so, Dr. Jarrell has been very activeand proactive fronting some of the
university funds to help make this happenand, and we're just truly grateful to him.
Dan Rampolla (26:47):
That's fantastic.
Meg Fi (26:50):
And sort of echoing what Larry says, we have also have a big
collection of paintings in a small museum.
And, and it is, um, youknow, preserving the history.
I don't know whetheryou can see right there.
Those are old French, um, medicaldictionaries from our early 1800s.
And I saw 'em at an auction and,you know, nobody bid on 'em.
(27:13):
So I'm like.
And you know, you can see justaround me, I have some of the sort of
extra paintings from our offices andyou know, it's important, but some
people, it's not important to them.
I mean, I've had people say, getthis painting outta my office.
I can't stand having this guylooking over my shoulder all day.
And, um, you know, they'rejust, they're not interested.
(27:36):
So that's how, you know, thingsget discarded and, and you know,
I just always shudder to thinkabout, you know, what's in that.
Um, you know, roll off that,that we didn't see that, that.
That keeps me awake at night.
Sometimes
Dan R (27:52):
We have an old, or we had an old, we call, always called it the
cage in our building on campus, and atone point they were doing some renovating
down there, and one of my coworkers andI went down, our boss had said, just
go down and take a look at, you know,we have a bunch of old stuff in there.
And it was a similar feeling, Meg,because there were pictures and just
different images of buildings from Godknows when they were, I mean, you know,
(28:16):
they were dated, I don't remember now,but they, they were old and I thought if
somebody else would've walked in, theywould've just thrown this stuff away.
It would've had no meaning.
And you know, it's still just sittingin a bin in our storage closet
now, but at least it's still there.
It's safe and you know, we need tofigure out what to do with it and
where to place those pieces as well.
Um,
Larry P (28:37):
Dana, you know, that's, that's the critical discussion that
needs to have happened because, uh, youknow, I'll just give you an example.
You know, in, in Davidge Hall foryears now, before the HVAC system
was changed out, the humiditylevels and heat was just oppressive.
And rather than holding onto the, tothe publications, to the old books
that we have, we just literallymove them up to the Health Sciences
(28:58):
Library, the rare book room.
In our Health Sciences Library that,uh, Tara Wink oversees right now.
So we've developed that partnershipbecause it's the right thing to do.
And you know, Megan and I just, uh,a little more than a year ago, uh,
did a little bit of a portrait swap.
You know, we, we recognized we hadsome pieces of medical artifacts.
That were more fitting for MedChi to have.
(29:20):
And one of them was a very large,uh, painting that's been hanging in
Davidge Hall for a very long time on Dr.
Tristram Thomas, who was one ofthe founders of MedChi, uh, that
his family had commissioned.
This is about an 11 foot tall, uh,painting that's been in, in the building
for, since the family turned it over.
And it was, it was put there, uh,because this was a, a real mover and
(29:42):
shaker in the early medicine in America.
But the truth is he had nothing to dowith the founding of the medical school
and never stood, you know, stepped footin Davidge Hall and yet MedChi -- to
MedChi, he was one of the founders.
And so we simply just arrangeda, a portrait swap with, with Meg
and you know, we both won from it.
(30:03):
So I, you know, you constantly haveto be going through the exercise
when you come a medical artifact.
And then when I mentioned how selflessMeg is, you know, when she found
this piece on John Davidge, sheobviously came to the conclusion that
it was more fitting for the, for theportrait to wind up in Davidge Hall.
It would've been a greataddition to MedChi, but she
(30:23):
just felt it was a better fit.
And, and that's the, the give andtake that you have to have when you
truly believe in preserving history.
Where's the best place for this?
And, and who, who can I talk tothat can help us make it fit?
So I, I couldn't agree more.
Meg Fielding (30:40):
Um.
Sorry, Larry.
I said, you know, this is such aSmalltimore story because, you know,
this old sailing friend of minehappened to know what I did, you know,
that I would know about the painting.
And then I've worked with Larry on andon for the past 12 years and, um, you
know, I know what they have, they knowwhat we have, you know, we swap things
(31:02):
back and forth and, um, you know, once.
Literally, once I found out that theydidn't have a painting, it was like,
there was just no question in my mindthat it needed to be at Davidge Hall.
There was just no otherplace for it in my mind.
Um, so I talked to our CEO and we, weactually split the cost of the painting.
(31:24):
Um, I paid for half of it, andMedChi paid for half of it, so it
could be a gift from both of us.
And, um, I was like, Nope,this is where it goes.
It's, it's.
You know, that's all there is to it.
There's no discussion.
It, it goes to Davidge Hall.
And you know, I remember walking outtathere and just feeling like this is, this
is where it, it, this is where it belongs.
(31:44):
This is, its home now.
You know?
Um, I know that that was,that, that was a fun feeling.
Dan Rampol (31:50):
How fortunate are we all, especially in this day and time
where so many people are constantlyin competition, and what I mean, this
truly is a symbiotic relationship thatyou're describing where you're looking
out for the betterment of not eachother as people, but what you represent.
You know, it goes beyond thatand really an awesome, fun story.
Meg Fielding (32:11):
Yeah, we've gotten great press about it.
I mean, it's been really exciting,um, just to, to see that so many
other people are as interestedin the story as we've been.
Um,
Larr (32:22):
I think it's a lesson that good news can also sell newspapers, right?
Meg Fielding (32:26):
Yes.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Larry Pitrof (32:27):
Yeah.
Meg Fielding (32:28):
Yeah.
Charles Sch (32:29):
Clicks on websites.
So yeah.
Thanks for the BaltimoreFishbowl for mm-hmm.
Publishing the, the initialarticle out there where Meg,
you were involved as well.
So, um, we appreciate that, um,because that, yeah, that, that
definitely went viral and weappreciate viral in a good way.
Uh,
Meg Fie (32:45):
Best thing is that the.
Uh, the guy who wrote it is an intern,a summer intern from the University
of Maryland School of Journalism.
And this is his first really big storyand he's just been so excited about it.
And I think it's a real coup forhim that, you know, it is just
the story that he wrote, you know,one of his first big stories.
(33:05):
So, uh, hopefully to keep him on ajournalistic path, uh, for his career.
Charles Schelle (33:11):
Absolutely.
I know that feeling well.
Yeah.
As a former journalism student, um,you know, is there anything else
for both UMB and Med Chi that maybeis missing, you're trying to find
that you need to put an APB out.
Say, Hey, we would really liketo have this in our collection.
If, you know, if it exists orwhere it is, please let us know.
Larry (33:34):
I, I would just, I would just, uh, word it this way, Charles.
I would just say, if you think youhave something before you throw it
out, just give us a call and we'llbe happy to talk to you about it.
Meg Fielding (33:45):
Yeah.
I got a call the other day from the,um, Carroll County Farm Museum and they
said, oh, we found a couple boxes ofstuff here and it was a donation or
a, a something you lent us in 1965.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, we were just kind of wonderingif you wanna come look at it and
see if there's anything you want.
(34:06):
'cause she said, you know.
By law, it's ours now.
I'm like, whatever.
Um, but you just, she said it just wasthis random couple boxes of stuff and
some of it was veterinary medicine,but others was people medicine.
So, um, going up there next month togo look at it and see what they have.
Um, so you just never know wheresomething's gonna come from.
(34:29):
I mean.
You, you just don't.
Charles Schelle (34:32):
Yeah.
I mean, even in the bigger culturalcontext, the, um, museums in the past,
I would say decade have have taken a, alook at themselves about the provenance
of things, and especially with thecolonial times and eras, like, okay, this
is more appropriate to return certainitems to the original country, right.
And, um, to, to thepeople that they belong.
(34:53):
So, um, for.
Things on a much more bigger,you know, historical scale.
So we're still doing that today.
It seems on, on a smaller scale here inBaltimore between the portrait swap and,
uh, you know, you finding, uh, uh, Davidgein the, in a restaurant storage rooms.
So anything's possible.
(35:13):
It's good that peoplestill have good intentions.
Meg Fiel (35:16):
The thing I was really worried about with the painting is,
you know, God, if I'd been sittingin Bertha's for 50 years or whatever,
um, you know, we all remember thedays of when you could smoke in a
restaurant and you'd get all dressedup to go to, you know, out to a bar or
something, and then you come home justwreaking like a, you know, an ashtray.
And I was just thinking, oh, I hope thispainting doesn't smell and I hope there's
(35:39):
just not like a scrim of nicotine on it.
And, um, it was in, itwas in very good shape.
You know, I, uh, got intothe car and I'm like.
Charles Sch (35:51):
I was actually more concerned maybe if there was like,
um, you know, cooking grease, youknow, layered on there from, from
the fryers over, over the years.
Meg Fielding (36:00):
I would hope it wouldn't have been in the kitchen.
That would've been a little frightening.
Charles Schelle (36:03):
Yeah.
Um, how are, are there any other peopleinvolved, um, either in, in the continued
journey or the discovery and restorationthat, that you wanna shout out?
I know, um, Larry, you, you'd shoutedout Tara Wink for, uh, her involvement
with some of the stuff that you'redoing, um, with special items.
Meg Fielding (36:22):
So I'd like to mention Carolyn Brownley, who is
the person who actually alerted me.
Um.
I said she is, uh, weused to sail together.
We had this all, all women sailing group.
And um, so I've known her for years andthat, you know, it just was very, you
know, fortuitous that she rememberedthis was what I did and that I posted
(36:43):
pictures of old doctors before.
And so, you know, she had the, youknow, foresight to call me and, or text
me and get in touch with me about it.
And, um, you know, it was sort ofher that started this, this chain.
Of actions that resulted in thepainting being where it belongs.
Larry Pitrof (37:02):
You know, the, the only thing that I, I guess I'd add
would be collecting, uh, artifactsis a grueling task because you
don't want to discourage anyone.
And the truth of the matter is,most of the inquiries that you
field really aren't valuable.
(37:25):
They, they, they aren't worth what?
And, and oftentimes it's, it's a setof books, you know, 20th century books
that, um, had been sitting in one ofthe doctor's libraries and he died
and the family didn't wanna throw 'emout because they're kept in such good
shape, and what do we do with these?
And there, there isn't a lotof value and there isn't a lot
(37:47):
of space to receive everything.
So you make recommendationson, on what to do.
And oftentimes it's encouragingthem to go to their local historical
society and, and ask if they'reinterested in receiving that.
So I, I, I would just say, you know,I don't have a shout out to anyone.
I want to be grateful toeverybody who considers, um.
Donating artifacts, but understand thatit is a, uh, it's a thankless job when you
(38:12):
really look at it, and I, you know, when,when Meg got that call from her friend,
I, I would imagine she would, she wouldagree that there was probably a little
degree of skepticism that, you know, this,this can't happen, but you go through the
motions because, well, look what happened.
You found the one in the million.
Meg Fieldi (38:30):
I mean, I bought the painting basically sight unseen, you
know, I saw a picture of it, you know, shetexted me a picture of it on the back and
the, the, um, little plaque, but it was.
You know, virtually sight unseen,but I knew enough from seeing what
I saw, and even if it had been a1950s portrait of Davidge, I still
thought it was important to acquire.
(38:53):
Um, you know, and, and I try tobe pretty judicious about what
we acquire here because it's notlike we have a shortage of books.
We have a Stacks libraryhere with 55,000 books.
So it's not like I need awhole bunch of new ones.
But as I said, thesethat I got at auction.
I think I paid $40 for 60 volumes of this.
(39:14):
So, you know, it was, itwas a worthwhile purchase.
So.
Charles Schel (39:18):
We've, um, we, we had another episode years ago with
the National Museum of Dentistry, andwe got to go into their storage room.
And that's the thing, like museumsbeyond what they have on display,
there's a lot of storage and justthe, the effort it takes to catalog
everything and just make sure you actuallyhave room and space for everything.
And, you know, they're dealingwith like things as small as, you
(39:38):
know, toothbrushes and, and, uh,and whatever else you can find.
Like there's so many things that,that are back there that, that.
You, you hope that can, you know,come out of storage one day.
But it's what you said, like it's, it'swhat you have to kind of turn away.
Larry Pitrof (39:53):
And that's, that's just part of it.
You know, it, it's very expensive.
And, and these days, not only doyou keep them in your repository,
but it's important if they're, ifthere's value to digitize them and
make them available to the world.
And that's not, that's not cheap either.
I mean, it's a, it's a costly commitmentthat an institution makes when it's
talking about a historical repository.
(40:13):
If you take it seriously, it's,it's very important, but it's,
it's invaluable to an institutionbecause of the prestige and just the
information sharing that it offers.
Meg Fieldi (40:24):
I'm still cataloging our Rare Books collection, and even
12 years later, I'm still findinginformation about our portraits
because we mostly know who they are,but there are a couple that we don't.
And then it's like, well,where do we get them?
How are they acquired?
And so I've gone through, backthrough all our medical journals and
bulletins and, you know, done a search.
(40:45):
Thank God they're digital.
Um, but you know, with the rare books, um.
Nobody ever cataloged them.
Nobody knows what we have.
And we did get rid of a lot of 'em in theearly two thousands because we realized
we weren't taking good care of 'em.
Um, but even with the ones that I've foundthat were sort of like the second rate
(41:06):
ones, I mean that collection's worth, youknow, three quarters of a million dollars.
So, you know, that's notsomething to sneer at.
So, um.
I think the earliest bookI've found so far is 1567.
And Wow.
You know, that's not even, uh, thatearly of a book, but it's still,
you know, you hold this in your handand you know, you feel the history.
(41:28):
And I think that's, you know, youhave to have that kind of mindset.
You know, you either have that inyour historian or you just don't care.
And it always shocks me, and I know, I'mpretty sure with Larry too, it shocks.
Probably shocks you that peoplearen't interested in history.
Oh yeah.
Whatever.
So.
Dan Ra (41:50):
Um, Charles, you alluded to the, our Dental Museum on campus
at University of Maryland, Baltimore,where we all sit and, and happily have
the access to these different buildingsand these different pieces of history.
Larry, can you, you mentioned thatthe portrait's going to be, or is
already being displayed publicly.
What if someone wants to come by?
(42:10):
We'll put some of this in our shownotes, but what if someone wants
to come by and see the portrait?
Do you have regular hours?
Larry Pi (42:17):
We do, and faculty and staff and students are permitted to
come in, uh, from eight until five.
Uh, if it's an outside, uh, visitor,we, uh, we require, uh, notification so
we can be there to let them in and, andshow them around and maintain things.
We, we learned our lesson, uh,from back in the 1990s when
that rendering disappeared.
That, uh, when you have valuelike this, you, you, you welcome
(42:40):
everyone, but you have to be careful.
Uh, and, and the other thing,Dana, that we should mention is.
Y you know, Davidge Hallis a wonderful resource.
It's historical and it's probablyour most precious artifact.
But we have other schools on campus thathave really nice historical collection.
The nursing school, the pharmacyschool, uh, the law school.
It, it's a, it's really a, a, a prettysensational, uh, composite when you,
(43:04):
when you bring all of these collectionstogether of what the University of
Maryland, Baltimore has to offer.
Dan Rampolla (43:11):
You said that much more eloquently than I did, Larry.
Thank you.
Yes.
So we will be sure to includeeverything in in our show notes, you
know, the references that we've made.
Is there anything else that eitherof you would like to share with us?
We've really enjoyedhearing the story firsthand.
Meg Fielding (43:30):
No, I just, I, um.
I've really felt fortunate to have workedwith Larry over the last 10 or 12 years,
and, um, I think I've learned a lot fromhim and it's been a real privilege to,
to sort of have him as a colleague and
Larry Pitrof (43:45):
Well, the, the feelings mutual,
Meg, and, and I would just say to,to Charles and, and, uh, and Dana,
uh, this is a wonderful forum.
You guys have an excellent, um, uh,program here and it's a way for us to, uh,
to share this good news with the campus.
And it's, uh.
It's a real joy to work with you again.
Charles Schelle (44:03):
Absolutely.
It was great talking toyou, you, Larry, uh, Meg,
It was great talking to you aswell.
And thank you again forbringing Davidge home.
Meg Fielding (44:11):
My pleasure.
Larry Pitrof (44:13):
Thanks guys.
Meg Fielding (44:14):
Thank you.
Jena Frick (44:19):
The UMB Pulse with Charles Schelle and Dana Rampola
is a UMB Office of Communicationsand Public Affairs production.
Edited by Charles Schelle.
Marketing by Dana Rampolla.
one man's trash is another man's treasure, and we found
(00:04):
a goldmine potentially, uh, for theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore, you've
probably seen it all over the news.
The Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore Fishbowl.
It's been on tv.
We are talking about a longlost portrait of UMB's Founding
Father John Beale Davidge.
Dan Rampolla (00:25):
Yeah, recently, well, recently, a couple of
months ago, it was found by, um,well, we'll tell the whole story.
We don't wanna give away too many, toomany secrets, but it was recently found
after a restaurant called Bertha'sMussels Maybe somebody remembers the
stickers that I think the stickersused to always be on, on bumpers, and
they would say, Eat Bertha's MusselsSo Bertha's was a local establishment,
(00:45):
very well known in Fells Point,closed down a couple of years ago
when the owners retired and justrecently they had an estate auction.
And through that auction thislittle treasure was found.
Charles Sch (01:01):
We've done a series before on, UMB's Hidden Treasures,
Summer Roadshow episodes, and,and so Larry has been on before.
Larry Pitrof is, is who I'm talkingabout from the, uh, Maryland
Medical Alumni Association.
If you've listened to our podcastbefore and with Larry on here, you've
learned a little bit about Davidge Hall.
Which you'll hear about again.
(01:22):
And he had that another incredible find,uh, a couple years ago with Moonlight
Graham, the University of MarylandSchool of Medicine student, who you
probably better know as , a characterin the Field of Dreams movie like.
Who would've thunk it?
And so another nice summertime findis why we're bringing Larry, uh, on
(01:43):
the program again, along with MegFairfax Fielding, um, who, uh, Dana,
tell us a little bit about Meganand how she kind of plays into this.
Dan Ra (01:51):
Yeah, she's the director of the history of Maryland Medicine
at MedChi, the Maryland State MedicalSociety, and she had a friend who just
happened to hear about a certain portraitthat you will learn has great meaning to
the University of Maryland, Baltimore, andmost specifically our School of Medicine.
Charles Sche (02:09):
So without further ado, let's take a little antique road
show as it seems, uh, and listen toLarry and Meg's incredible discovery
of the portrait of John Davidge.
Jena Frick (02:25):
You are listening to the heartbeat of the University of
Maryland, Baltimore, the UMB Pulse.
Dan Ram (02:38):
Welcome to both of you.
I would love if you could start outjust by introducing yourselves, share
your role at UMB, your connection withthe Maryland Medical Society, because
I imagine there's plenty of UMB alumniinvolved with the medical society.
Meg F (02:52):
I'm Meg Fairfax Fielding.
I'm the head of the History ofMedicine in Maryland for MedChi,
the Maryland State Medical Society.
And, uh, we have a long timeconnection with, uh, um, university
School of Medicine because in1807 we help found the school.
Our official name is the Medical andChirurgical Faculty of of Maryland,
(03:17):
and the faculty part comes fromthat we were the original faculty of
what is now the School of Medicine.
And so I've worked with Larry for eightor 10 years now on different things.
Larry Pitrof (03:30):
Yeah.
And I'm Larry Pitrof, executive directorof the Medical Alumni Association.
I've been at the university since1994, and Meg is absolutely correct
when she says, uh, we collaborate ona number of things with Med Chi And,
uh, this was, uh, what people are gonnabe hearing about today is just, um,
one of them that we're very proud of.
Dan Rampolla (03:50):
Well, thank you both for joining us.
Um, Larry, before we dive into theactual discovery, can you give us a
little bit of background about JohnDavidge and his significance to UMB?
Larry Pitrof (04:01):
Well, um, you have to take yourself back to
early medicine, uh, in America.
And, um, medicine, uh, organized medicinewas, um, was distrusted back then.
Physical diagnosis was in itsinfancy because the profession
wasn't really regulated untilMedChi came around in 1799.
Uh, doctors often found themselvescompeting with, uh, barbershop,
(04:24):
surgeons, um, people of the ministry.
Um, street Corner Apothecaries.
Uh, and then there was this groupof organized doctors, medical degree
doctors, largely who came from, receivedtheir medical educations in Europe.
And they did these crazy thingslike dissected dead bodies to
learn how the body functioned.
(04:46):
So damage grew up, uh, in that era,and he was educated at, um, in Glasgow
University of Glasgow, uh, was originallyfrom Annapolis, returned to Maryland,
uh, and opened up a private practicein Harford County, and then eventually
moved down to, uh, the Baltimore areawhere he was advocating for the founding
of a medical college in addition tothe founding of a medical society that
(05:09):
would help, uh, regulate the profession.
And there was a series of Yellow Feverepidemics in the late 1700s, uh, that,
um, really allowed the school or theeffort to found a school, uh, to gain some
ground because, uh, it was horrible forthe state of, um, Maryland and actually
the entire eastern seaboard , when yellowFever appeared, it was usually in summer,
(05:34):
uh, and it happened in low-lying areas.
I think Meg will confirmedthat most of them in Baltimore
started down in Fells Point.
That, uh, Davidge became a realrecognized figure because nobody
understood what caused yellow fever.
And there was a. A large scale effortto clear out when that happened.
Most people headed for higher grounds,including many of the doctors who were
(05:54):
responsible for treating their patients.
And Davidge was one of theseindividuals that had a, a belief that,
uh, yellow fever was not contagious.
He stayed in Baltimore and he provideda real sense of calm in the city at
a time when it was really needed.
And so that was, uh,David asserting himself.
As a, uh, an eminent physician oof the day in in early Baltimore.
Charles Schelle (06:19):
It, it's an incredible story about John Davidge,
um, and, and his connection to, toBaltimore then in the history here.
And, um, it's great havingyou on again, Larry.
Um, we had you on a couple yearsago talking about the discovery
of some letters and, and documentsinvolving Moonlight Graham,
and who would've thought herecoincidentally near another
(06:40):
All-Star game break maybe from, withMajor League Baseball that we're
talking about another discovery.
You, you seem to have a knack of these,uh, late spring, um, uh, discoveries.
,Larry Pitrof: It'll be lucky than
Yeah, exactly.
So, um, so I'm gonna bring up the, um,portrait here in a second and share.
(07:01):
So if you're listening to thispodcast, this is a very visual
podcast for, for this episode.
So.
If you haven't, visit our YouTubechannel, uh, for the UMB Pulse.
Subscribe.
Watch this podcast so you can see,see what we're about to walk through.
Um, here.
So as we bring up the now infamousportrait, um, tell us, uh, about
(07:24):
the background of the oldest knownportrait of John Davidge being found
at Bertha's Muscles in Fells Point.
Meg, how did it come to your attention?
Meg Fi (07:35):
Um, I got a text message from an old friend of mine, an old sailing
buddy of mine, and who I literally haveprobably not talked to in 10 years,
and she said, Hey, I'm cleaning outBertha's and found this painting and I
know that you're with a medical society.
And I frequently post, um, picturesof some of the portraits we have.
(07:58):
We have about 120 portraits of physicians.
And she said, you know, Ithought you might be interested.
And I was like, as soon as I saw it,I knew it was John Davidge because,
um, I've seen pictures of him before.
We have a, an 1899, um, annals ofMedicine that covers the first century
of our being from 1799 to 1899.
(08:21):
And in it, there's a small, blackand white photograph of, um, what was
probably a portrait of John Davidge.
So I knew exactly who he was.
So she said, you know, let meknow if you're interested in it.
And you know, just, um, so I sent her afigure and in the meantime, this was the
(08:44):
day that Bertha's was being auctioned off.
So there was a lot going on and they weretrying to clear out the building, um,
for the buildings to be auctioned off.
So, um.
I, she, they accepted theprice that I had sent them.
And then on Saturday morning, sothis was Thursday, Friday, so it
was between Thursday and Monday.
(09:05):
So Saturday morning wentover and picked it up.
Um, the owner of Bertha's,Tony Norris wanted to take a
picture, so I let him, um, and.
I said, where did you get it?
And he said, I, you know, I think I gotit a flea market or something like that.
And he said, I don't really remember.
(09:25):
And I barely remembered having it.
And you know.
They found it in a closet.
So anyway, I took, um, John homefor the weekend and looked at
him with under a black light.
Looked at the frame, you know,looked at the plaque on it.
It all seems to be prettyappropriate for the period.
And then Monday morning, uh, whenI got to the office, um, I, um,
(09:52):
emailed Larry and said, Hey, who?
Who, um, painted the portraitof John David that you have,
and that was when he told me.
They really didn't have oneand that it had been stolen.
And when he said it was stolen, Ijust was like, oh my god, you know,
I'm thinking, um, in possessionof stolen goods that you paid for.
(10:13):
Yeah.
So I was like, so he said, no, it wassmall and I think he said it was oval.
And um, clearly the portrait Ihave could not have ever been
that because it was much bigger.
So I said, you know, I found this portraitof, uh, John Davidge over the weekend,
or would you be interested in seeing it?
(10:34):
And, you know, I could picture Larryjumping out of his chair with excitement.
So, um, drove down later thatafternoon and, um, I think the, the
best part about it's, I actuallygot a really good parking space.
Um, so, um.
Took it over to see him and, andI had to stop and just put him
(10:55):
on the front step of Davidge Halland take a picture of him with the
Davidge Hall sign in the background.
So I took him upstairs to show Larry.
Um, um, he's down theresomewhere, the other he is.
Um, and then Larry, youcan take over from here.
Larry Pitrof (11:13):
Well, when the email came, we were really
stunned, to be honest with you.
Um, we had no idea anythinglike this even existed.
I knew when Meg emailedthat she knew what she had.
There was no question about it.
The thing you have to know about MegFielding is she's extremely knowledgeable.
Uh, she's selfless and, and, uh, she'salways working for the greater good.
(11:36):
And when the email came, I just saidto myself, well, here we go again.
You know, and I, I knewshe knew what she had.
And when she followed upwith the email with the.
With the portrait, it, I knewwe had something very special,
and it was just a matter of, of,um, her coming out and, and, uh.
Dropping it off to us and we,we had both agreed at the time
(11:58):
that it, it needs a little work.
And you can see by the image that therewas, uh, some slight damage to it.
But the reality is, you know, it's,it's a 200 year old, uh, portrait that
was sitting in a closet somewhere.
And so we agreed that it probablyneeds to have a little work done.
Uh, but make no mistake about it.
We, we, we posted it, we put itup on, in the for display, uh, an
(12:21):
hour after Meg left the building.
I, I should just add that after the, uh,the rendering that we had was stolen, uh,
back in the late 1990s, this was a timewhen, uh, Davidge Hall was open with a key
lock, and from eight until five, Mondaythrough Friday, it was open to the public.
You know, we get a lot of peoplewho like to come in and visit a
national historic landmark, andwe we're very welcoming for that.
(12:42):
You know, when it disappeared,we're not even sure.
All I remember is my former, uh, chairmanof my Davidge Hall committee, Mickey
Foxwell, the late Mickey Foxwell, camein and said, boy, what happened to the
rendering we had of Davidge up there?
And that was the first time Irealized it was it was gone.
So we had to file the police report,but we knew it was, it was long gone.
So.
In preparation for our bicentennialcelebration in 2007, uh, we commissioned
(13:06):
a portrait and it was based on photosfrom that rendering that we had that was
stolen, as well as some written accountsby Eugene Cordell, which brought out
Davidge's blue eyes and his appearance.
And, and we commissioned this portraitin 2005 with a, an artist down on
the Eastern Shore by the name of, um.
Laura Era at the Troika Gallery,and she did a wonderful job.
(13:28):
And the truth is we didn't realizehow good she did until Meg brought
this painting in because the tworeally have a striking resemblance.
But it was, you know, there was nosecret to what we were gonna be doing.
We, we were retired the uh, thecommissioned Davidge portrait and, and
we, um, we displayed the, the current one.
And, and, uh, she and I bothrefer to it as the, the Mona Lisa.
(13:52):
Uh, when, when you look at it, I don'tknow if you, you, you folks have ever
been to the Louvre in Paris, but youknow, you walk around this enormous
museum and there are these busts and thesesculpted pieces that are just enormous.
And then you walk into the room whereMona Lisa is, and it's proportionately a
very small painting, but it's so powerfuland you get that agree with me or not.
(14:15):
Meg, you get that same feeling when youlook at the damage rendering, don't you?
Meg Fielding (14:18):
Mm-hmm.
You just, you, you get a feelingof who he is and, you know,
it's a very, it's well done.
I mean, and what we suspect that it wasdone, it, it, it says it was a copy and
we suspect it was a copy of a portraitthat had been done during his life.
And so it was the copy of that.
(14:38):
Um, but then there's some differencebetween, because A.L. Raska.
You know, it says New York,1844, but Raska wasn't born for
about another 20 years, so we'rejust not sure about all that.
I've seen one, um, something thatsays that it was, the portrait was
(15:01):
from Davidge's great-great-grandson,and then something else that
says it's from his grandson.
So there's some investigationto be done on the painting.
Um, but I think that's all sort ofsecondary to the fact that we, you have
the painting now and nobody knew about it.
Charles (15:21):
This really sounds like we need a special edition of Antiques
Road Show to show up here because it is.
This painting was acquired originallyin a flea market, was in a restaurant,
and then you paid some money for it.
Let's just say, I didn't know how muchyou paid for it, but it'd be a great
Antique Road Show moment if it waslike, I paid $20 for this and uh, and
(15:43):
now it's appraised at, you know what?
Meg (15:46):
Somebody asked me what the value of it was and I said, you know,
it might not have a lot of artisticvalue or whatever, but the value to
the university is, you know, you can'tput money on that because there's
never been a painting like that.
You know, there's never goingto be a painting like that.
It's irreplaceable and you know, themoney really actually doesn't matter.
(16:09):
Um, so, but there are actually acouple of people who work on road show
who are in Baltimore, so we may beable to get one or two of 'em, uh, to
come over and, and take a look at it.
But, um, yeah, so.
It's, it's, my father usedto say money and fair words.
So that's, that's what we need.
Charles Sche (16:28):
And, and to follow up on what you were talking about here
on the frame, we see, we see presentedby family of Walter Dorsey Davidge.
And so you, you were saying,is that the great grandson?
Meg Fielding (16:39):
It's also his grandson, so it's.
I've looked at the, some of the,um, the genealogy for, um, Davidge's
family and he does have a grandsonnamed Walter Dorsey Davidge.
Um.
I said we have a collection ofabout 120 portraits here that
go back to this late 1700s.
(17:01):
And this is like, the plaque is veryconsistent with what the plaques
on those portraits look like.
Um, you know, you can see that some ofthe gilding has rubbed off on the bottom
rail, which is really common becausewhen you're cleaning 'em, you tend to
clean the bottom rail, not the top rail.
Um, you know, the gilding is rightand the canvas is right for that.
(17:22):
Um.
Period of time.
So I suspect it's more his grandsonthan his great-great grandson,
'cause great-great grandson wouldbring it into the, you know, 1900s.
Charles Schelle (17:36):
How do you verify its authenticity?
Like who, who's available?
I, I mean we have great art museumsin, in the region, but like, who could
be tapped into to kind of help, helptrack down that, that art mystery?
Larry Pitrof (17:48):
I should also add that we're, we're reaching
out to the Davidge family.
Uh, we do keep in touch with acouple of the, of the descendants.
Uh, as a matter of fact, they had a, amini reunion of about 30 of them, uh, in
Davidge Hall about, uh, eight years ago.
And the name Dorsey Davidge isconsistent with the family lineage.
We've all seen that.
Um, and I'm hoping the family canhope, can help tie that together.
(18:11):
So.
The, the investigation does continue.
Um, but I would agree with Megbased on the, the portraits that
we have on display in the building.
Uh, this is a, a time period and asshe said, the name plate, uh, it's all
consistent with what we have in DavidgeHall right now with, uh, some of his
other colleagues who were, uh, workingbeside him back, back in that day.
Dan Rampolla (18:34):
That's so fun.
Um, backing up to what you hadsaid about, um, having the piece
commissioned, you said that, um,in reading some information, you
found out that he had blue eyes anda couple of other notable things.
Is there anything about this portraitthat is unique compared to the Davidge
imagery that you've seen before?
Larry Pitrof (18:54):
I, and personally, I, I haven't seen any.
It, it's, it's remarkably consistent.
Uh, when you look at the clothinghe's wearing, uh, the expression he
has on his face, uh, that was prettyconsistent with portraits that were
being done during that time period.
So I, I didn't notice any.
How about you, Meg?
Meg (19:10):
No, it's, um, it's similar to the one that's in our, Medical
Annals of Maryland, um, which was , oneof the Eugene Cordell publications.
Um, you know, he's wearing the samesort of cravat and coat and things like
that, but that's, you know, that's whateverybody wore at that point in time.
Um, so, you know, and that's why wesort of suspect that the picture was
(19:34):
done during, hi, it's a copy of apicture dur done during his lifetime.
So, and the blue eyes.
I think there's something maybe in theannals that says about his blue eyes.
And like a lot of times you can look ata photograph and tell somebody's got blue
eyes because that's what it looks like.
(19:56):
Um, not dark brown eyesor anything like that.
So.
Lar (20:00):
Largely the, the repository that we draw upon for the early history
in Mar Maryland is Eugene Cordell.
He was a graduate of the University ofMaryland and he was the first professor
of history at the medical school here.
And he spent, uh, the latter partof his life, uh, documenting the
early medicine, uh, in Maryland.
And it's been a terrific,uh, resource to us.
(20:21):
As a matter of fact, when I. Uh,published my book on the first
200 years during our bicentennial.
I was drawing largely, heavily upon hishistory for the first a hundred years,
Meg Fie (20:32):
I was seeing if I had a copy on my shelves, and I think it's
in the room next to me, so I don't,
Larry (20:37):
It's in the special room, Meg, where you gotta wear the gloves when
you open it up because it's so precious.
Meg (20:43):
No, I have about 12 copies of it, so it's like, yeah, whatever.
Um, yeah, so.
You know that a lot of theinformation is consistent.
So, you know, it, it's, it all followsa path and which leads us to, to, you
know, what we've sort of discern about it.
(21:05):
So,
Charles Schell (21:06):
Larry, um, move, moving over to Davidge Hall itself.
Obviously a huge part of, UMB's history.
Um, can you talk about the role of artworkin museum artifacts and preserving and
interpreting that legacy of Davidge Hall?
Larry Pitrof (21:22):
Yeah.
That's a really good, uh, questionand Meg's gonna smile when I when
I talk about this because thisrecent find is very consistent.
You know, our, our museum collectionis, has, has been assembled over
the past 200 years, largely by,I hate to say this, going into.
People's garbage cans.
Uh, so much of this, of this stuff getsdiscarded over the years because they
(21:46):
just don't understand the value and themedical school itself, you know, when
they move on to a different technology,they're so eager and excited about, about
moving ahead that they oftentimes forgetwhat they were, what they were
using 50 and 75 years ago.
And it oftentimes winds up in abasement somewhere when someone comes
along and says, this is just clutter.
We need to move on with this.
(22:07):
And, uh, some of us will rememberthe late, uh, Dr. Ted Woodward.
He, he was a professor of medicinehere for about 50 years, and he
would walk into the alumni office.
I can recount this severaltimes and say, Larry.
Here's, here's another artifactthat I was able to find for you.
And, uh, it, it's always something that,that was of, of terrific value to us.
(22:29):
So our museum in Davidge Hall, wedon't refer to it as a living museum.
It's really a museum that reflectsback on early medical education
in Maryland, because obviously thebuilding itself, the shell is the most
valuable piece of the collection, right?
Because it's the oldest existingfacility that we have in America
(22:50):
that was used for medical education.
So what we want to put into the buildingand display into the building, uh, are,
are these artifacts that tell a storyabout early medical education in, in
Maryland and in the United States since,you know, we were one of the, well, we
were the fifth oldest medical school, so.
Uh, there's a great story to telland we're delighted to te to tell it.
(23:12):
And, uh, again, you know, here's, here'sa a another piece now, in the past
month after 200 years, that's fi that'sfinding its way into, into Davidge Hall.
That helps us tell that story.
Charles Schel (23:23):
Keeping on, about the building, it's been undergoing
some work, some touch up, somefacelifts, and also giving some
modern comfort and, and conveniences.
Can you maybe update us a littlebit about, uh, where are we at
with some of the work going on?
Larry Pitrof (23:36):
Yeah.
Uh, touchups is a looselyuh, uh, used word.
Uh, this is, this is massive.
Uh, and it's restoration work.
Uh, it started about five, sixyears ago now, where we, we started
just by relocating the restrooms.
As you might expect, restroomswere not a part of, of the medical
building when it was constructed.
There were, there were outhousesand so when they were, when plumbing
(23:56):
was brought into the building.
Uh, the, the, uh, the restrooms were putin place is that today, by today's terms,
they, they, it wouldn't be an area whereyou'd like to have them in the building.
And so we relocated those and thenmoved ahead with a complete overhaul of
the HVAC system, the air conditioning,uh, Charles and, and, uh, Dana,
you've walked into Davidge Hall, youknow, in the last four or five years,
(24:19):
and it can be very uncomfortable.
It's warm during the.
Uh, the summer and cold duringthe, the, the, the winter.
Uh, and so that's, that'sbeen taken care of now.
And so we're now turning ourattention to the aesthetics.
Uh, but there's more to it than that.
Uh, there's a sprinkler system thathas to be changed out, an alarm
system that needs to be replaced.
So they're gonna be opening up walls and.
(24:41):
And, uh, manipulatingpipes and things like that.
And there's a lot of plaster repairand painting that's going to have
to be done in addition to whatis perhaps, uh, the, the highest
regarded room, uh, in the building.
And that's the anatomicaltheater on the third floor where
all of this original plasteron the dome has been crumbling,
uh, for the past 15 years now.
(25:03):
Uh, we replaced the, the, uh, theroof, uh, back in, uh, 2001 when we
completed the project, but due tosome design flaws and the earthquake
in 2011 that we all remember, uh,there was some structural damage
done and we've had a leaking problem.
And so there's some serious waterdamage that's going to be repaired,
uh, on the, uh, on the dome.
(25:25):
Uh, and, and that's that we're,we're very excited about it.
It isn't gonna be cheap, uh, butthis is work that's, that's really
critical to the aesthetics of thebuilding as well as the overall, um,
functionality of the building itself.
But none of that could get doneuntil the roof is replaced.
So I need to give a, uh, a shoutout to President Jarrell Um.
(25:46):
He has been instrumental in improvingthe campus for those of us who live
and work around, uh, the campus itself.
And Davidge Hall hasbeen a priority of his.
And so, uh, in addition to the, thefunding that the alumni are bringing
into this mix, we've been tenants inthe building since, uh, 1958 when we
(26:07):
actually saved the building from, uh,from being, uh, torn down and being
replaced by a modern teaching facility.
Uh, but, but Dr. Uh, Jarrell hasbeen instrumental in getting campus
funding, uh, to lead the project.
You know, we're, it's easy to find,uh, people to underwrite rooms, right?
Naming, rooming opportunities and thingslike that from a fundraising perspective.
(26:29):
But to try to convince someone thatwe need to change out the HVAC system,
it's not as easy as, as you think.
And so, Dr. Jarrell has been very activeand proactive fronting some of the
university funds to help make this happenand, and we're just truly grateful to him.
Dan Rampolla (26:47):
That's fantastic.
Meg Fi (26:50):
And sort of echoing what Larry says, we have also have a big
collection of paintings in a small museum.
And, and it is, um, youknow, preserving the history.
I don't know whetheryou can see right there.
Those are old French, um, medicaldictionaries from our early 1800s.
And I saw 'em at an auction and,you know, nobody bid on 'em.
(27:13):
So I'm like.
And you know, you can see justaround me, I have some of the sort of
extra paintings from our offices andyou know, it's important, but some
people, it's not important to them.
I mean, I've had people say, getthis painting outta my office.
I can't stand having this guylooking over my shoulder all day.
And, um, you know, they'rejust, they're not interested.
(27:36):
So that's how, you know, thingsget discarded and, and you know,
I just always shudder to thinkabout, you know, what's in that.
Um, you know, roll off that,that we didn't see that, that.
That keeps me awake at night.
Sometimes
Dan R (27:52):
We have an old, or we had an old, we call, always called it the
cage in our building on campus, and atone point they were doing some renovating
down there, and one of my coworkers andI went down, our boss had said, just
go down and take a look at, you know,we have a bunch of old stuff in there.
And it was a similar feeling, Meg,because there were pictures and just
different images of buildings from Godknows when they were, I mean, you know,
(28:16):
they were dated, I don't remember now,but they, they were old and I thought if
somebody else would've walked in, theywould've just thrown this stuff away.
It would've had no meaning.
And you know, it's still just sittingin a bin in our storage closet
now, but at least it's still there.
It's safe and you know, we need tofigure out what to do with it and
where to place those pieces as well.
Um,
Larry P (28:37):
Dana, you know, that's, that's the critical discussion that
needs to have happened because, uh, youknow, I'll just give you an example.
You know, in, in Davidge Hall foryears now, before the HVAC system
was changed out, the humiditylevels and heat was just oppressive.
And rather than holding onto the, tothe publications, to the old books
that we have, we just literallymove them up to the Health Sciences
(28:58):
Library, the rare book room.
In our Health Sciences Library that,uh, Tara Wink oversees right now.
So we've developed that partnershipbecause it's the right thing to do.
And you know, Megan and I just, uh,a little more than a year ago, uh,
did a little bit of a portrait swap.
You know, we, we recognized we hadsome pieces of medical artifacts.
That were more fitting for MedChi to have.
(29:20):
And one of them was a very large,uh, painting that's been hanging in
Davidge Hall for a very long time on Dr.
Tristram Thomas, who was one ofthe founders of MedChi, uh, that
his family had commissioned.
This is about an 11 foot tall, uh,painting that's been in, in the building
for, since the family turned it over.
And it was, it was put there, uh,because this was a, a real mover and
(29:42):
shaker in the early medicine in America.
But the truth is he had nothing to dowith the founding of the medical school
and never stood, you know, stepped footin Davidge Hall and yet MedChi -- to
MedChi, he was one of the founders.
And so we simply just arrangeda, a portrait swap with, with Meg
and you know, we both won from it.
(30:03):
So I, you know, you constantly haveto be going through the exercise
when you come a medical artifact.
And then when I mentioned how selflessMeg is, you know, when she found
this piece on John Davidge, sheobviously came to the conclusion that
it was more fitting for the, for theportrait to wind up in Davidge Hall.
It would've been a greataddition to MedChi, but she
(30:23):
just felt it was a better fit.
And, and that's the, the give andtake that you have to have when you
truly believe in preserving history.
Where's the best place for this?
And, and who, who can I talk tothat can help us make it fit?
So I, I couldn't agree more.
Meg Fielding (30:40):
Um.
Sorry, Larry.
I said, you know, this is such aSmalltimore story because, you know,
this old sailing friend of minehappened to know what I did, you know,
that I would know about the painting.
And then I've worked with Larry on andon for the past 12 years and, um, you
know, I know what they have, they knowwhat we have, you know, we swap things
(31:02):
back and forth and, um, you know, once.
Literally, once I found out that theydidn't have a painting, it was like,
there was just no question in my mindthat it needed to be at Davidge Hall.
There was just no otherplace for it in my mind.
Um, so I talked to our CEO and we, weactually split the cost of the painting.
(31:24):
Um, I paid for half of it, andMedChi paid for half of it, so it
could be a gift from both of us.
And, um, I was like, Nope,this is where it goes.
It's, it's.
You know, that's all there is to it.
There's no discussion.
It, it goes to Davidge Hall.
And you know, I remember walking outtathere and just feeling like this is, this
is where it, it, this is where it belongs.
(31:44):
This is, its home now.
You know?
Um, I know that that was,that, that was a fun feeling.
Dan Rampol (31:50):
How fortunate are we all, especially in this day and time
where so many people are constantlyin competition, and what I mean, this
truly is a symbiotic relationship thatyou're describing where you're looking
out for the betterment of not eachother as people, but what you represent.
You know, it goes beyond thatand really an awesome, fun story.
Meg Fielding (32:11):
Yeah, we've gotten great press about it.
I mean, it's been really exciting,um, just to, to see that so many
other people are as interestedin the story as we've been.
Um,
Larr (32:22):
I think it's a lesson that good news can also sell newspapers, right?
Meg Fielding (32:26):
Yes.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Larry Pitrof (32:27):
Yeah.
Meg Fielding (32:28):
Yeah.
Charles Sch (32:29):
Clicks on websites.
So yeah.
Thanks for the BaltimoreFishbowl for mm-hmm.
Publishing the, the initialarticle out there where Meg,
you were involved as well.
So, um, we appreciate that, um,because that, yeah, that, that
definitely went viral and weappreciate viral in a good way.
Uh,
Meg Fie (32:45):
Best thing is that the.
Uh, the guy who wrote it is an intern,a summer intern from the University
of Maryland School of Journalism.
And this is his first really big storyand he's just been so excited about it.
And I think it's a real coup forhim that, you know, it is just
the story that he wrote, you know,one of his first big stories.
(33:05):
So, uh, hopefully to keep him on ajournalistic path, uh, for his career.
Charles Schelle (33:11):
Absolutely.
I know that feeling well.
Yeah.
As a former journalism student, um,you know, is there anything else
for both UMB and Med Chi that maybeis missing, you're trying to find
that you need to put an APB out.
Say, Hey, we would really liketo have this in our collection.
If, you know, if it exists orwhere it is, please let us know.
Larry (33:34):
I, I would just, I would just, uh, word it this way, Charles.
I would just say, if you think youhave something before you throw it
out, just give us a call and we'llbe happy to talk to you about it.
Meg Fielding (33:45):
Yeah.
I got a call the other day from the,um, Carroll County Farm Museum and they
said, oh, we found a couple boxes ofstuff here and it was a donation or
a, a something you lent us in 1965.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, we were just kind of wonderingif you wanna come look at it and
see if there's anything you want.
(34:06):
'cause she said, you know.
By law, it's ours now.
I'm like, whatever.
Um, but you just, she said it just wasthis random couple boxes of stuff and
some of it was veterinary medicine,but others was people medicine.
So, um, going up there next month togo look at it and see what they have.
Um, so you just never know wheresomething's gonna come from.
(34:29):
I mean.
You, you just don't.
Charles Schelle (34:32):
Yeah.
I mean, even in the bigger culturalcontext, the, um, museums in the past,
I would say decade have have taken a, alook at themselves about the provenance
of things, and especially with thecolonial times and eras, like, okay, this
is more appropriate to return certainitems to the original country, right.
And, um, to, to thepeople that they belong.
(34:53):
So, um, for.
Things on a much more bigger,you know, historical scale.
So we're still doing that today.
It seems on, on a smaller scale here inBaltimore between the portrait swap and,
uh, you know, you finding, uh, uh, Davidgein the, in a restaurant storage rooms.
So anything's possible.
(35:13):
It's good that peoplestill have good intentions.
Meg Fiel (35:16):
The thing I was really worried about with the painting is,
you know, God, if I'd been sittingin Bertha's for 50 years or whatever,
um, you know, we all remember thedays of when you could smoke in a
restaurant and you'd get all dressedup to go to, you know, out to a bar or
something, and then you come home justwreaking like a, you know, an ashtray.
And I was just thinking, oh, I hope thispainting doesn't smell and I hope there's
(35:39):
just not like a scrim of nicotine on it.
And, um, it was in, itwas in very good shape.
You know, I, uh, got intothe car and I'm like.
Charles Sch (35:51):
I was actually more concerned maybe if there was like,
um, you know, cooking grease, youknow, layered on there from, from
the fryers over, over the years.
Meg Fielding (36:00):
I would hope it wouldn't have been in the kitchen.
That would've been a little frightening.
Charles Schelle (36:03):
Yeah.
Um, how are, are there any other peopleinvolved, um, either in, in the continued
journey or the discovery and restorationthat, that you wanna shout out?
I know, um, Larry, you, you'd shoutedout Tara Wink for, uh, her involvement
with some of the stuff that you'redoing, um, with special items.
Meg Fielding (36:22):
So I'd like to mention Carolyn Brownley, who is
the person who actually alerted me.
Um.
I said she is, uh, weused to sail together.
We had this all, all women sailing group.
And um, so I've known her for years andthat, you know, it just was very, you
know, fortuitous that she rememberedthis was what I did and that I posted
(36:43):
pictures of old doctors before.
And so, you know, she had the, youknow, foresight to call me and, or text
me and get in touch with me about it.
And, um, you know, it was sort ofher that started this, this chain.
Of actions that resulted in thepainting being where it belongs.
Larry Pitrof (37:02):
You know, the, the only thing that I, I guess I'd add
would be collecting, uh, artifactsis a grueling task because you
don't want to discourage anyone.
And the truth of the matter is,most of the inquiries that you
field really aren't valuable.
(37:25):
They, they, they aren't worth what?
And, and oftentimes it's, it's a setof books, you know, 20th century books
that, um, had been sitting in one ofthe doctor's libraries and he died
and the family didn't wanna throw 'emout because they're kept in such good
shape, and what do we do with these?
And there, there isn't a lotof value and there isn't a lot
(37:47):
of space to receive everything.
So you make recommendationson, on what to do.
And oftentimes it's encouragingthem to go to their local historical
society and, and ask if they'reinterested in receiving that.
So I, I, I would just say, you know,I don't have a shout out to anyone.
I want to be grateful toeverybody who considers, um.
Donating artifacts, but understand thatit is a, uh, it's a thankless job when you
(38:12):
really look at it, and I, you know, when,when Meg got that call from her friend,
I, I would imagine she would, she wouldagree that there was probably a little
degree of skepticism that, you know, this,this can't happen, but you go through the
motions because, well, look what happened.
You found the one in the million.
Meg Fieldi (38:30):
I mean, I bought the painting basically sight unseen, you
know, I saw a picture of it, you know, shetexted me a picture of it on the back and
the, the, um, little plaque, but it was.
You know, virtually sight unseen,but I knew enough from seeing what
I saw, and even if it had been a1950s portrait of Davidge, I still
thought it was important to acquire.
(38:53):
Um, you know, and, and I try tobe pretty judicious about what
we acquire here because it's notlike we have a shortage of books.
We have a Stacks libraryhere with 55,000 books.
So it's not like I need awhole bunch of new ones.
But as I said, thesethat I got at auction.
I think I paid $40 for 60 volumes of this.
(39:14):
So, you know, it was, itwas a worthwhile purchase.
So.
Charles Schel (39:18):
We've, um, we, we had another episode years ago with
the National Museum of Dentistry, andwe got to go into their storage room.
And that's the thing, like museumsbeyond what they have on display,
there's a lot of storage and justthe, the effort it takes to catalog
everything and just make sure you actuallyhave room and space for everything.
And, you know, they're dealingwith like things as small as, you
(39:38):
know, toothbrushes and, and, uh,and whatever else you can find.
Like there's so many things that,that are back there that, that.
You, you hope that can, you know,come out of storage one day.
But it's what you said, like it's, it'swhat you have to kind of turn away.
Larry Pitrof (39:53):
And that's, that's just part of it.
You know, it, it's very expensive.
And, and these days, not only doyou keep them in your repository,
but it's important if they're, ifthere's value to digitize them and
make them available to the world.
And that's not, that's not cheap either.
I mean, it's a, it's a costly commitmentthat an institution makes when it's
talking about a historical repository.
(40:13):
If you take it seriously, it's,it's very important, but it's,
it's invaluable to an institutionbecause of the prestige and just the
information sharing that it offers.
Meg Fieldi (40:24):
I'm still cataloging our Rare Books collection, and even
12 years later, I'm still findinginformation about our portraits
because we mostly know who they are,but there are a couple that we don't.
And then it's like, well,where do we get them?
How are they acquired?
And so I've gone through, backthrough all our medical journals and
bulletins and, you know, done a search.
(40:45):
Thank God they're digital.
Um, but you know, with the rare books, um.
Nobody ever cataloged them.
Nobody knows what we have.
And we did get rid of a lot of 'em in theearly two thousands because we realized
we weren't taking good care of 'em.
Um, but even with the ones that I've foundthat were sort of like the second rate
(41:06):
ones, I mean that collection's worth, youknow, three quarters of a million dollars.
So, you know, that's notsomething to sneer at.
So, um.
I think the earliest bookI've found so far is 1567.
And Wow.
You know, that's not even, uh, thatearly of a book, but it's still,
you know, you hold this in your handand you know, you feel the history.
(41:28):
And I think that's, you know, youhave to have that kind of mindset.
You know, you either have that inyour historian or you just don't care.
And it always shocks me, and I know, I'mpretty sure with Larry too, it shocks.
Probably shocks you that peoplearen't interested in history.
Oh yeah.
Whatever.
So.
Dan Ra (41:50):
Um, Charles, you alluded to the, our Dental Museum on campus
at University of Maryland, Baltimore,where we all sit and, and happily have
the access to these different buildingsand these different pieces of history.
Larry, can you, you mentioned thatthe portrait's going to be, or is
already being displayed publicly.
What if someone wants to come by?
(42:10):
We'll put some of this in our shownotes, but what if someone wants
to come by and see the portrait?
Do you have regular hours?
Larry Pi (42:17):
We do, and faculty and staff and students are permitted to
come in, uh, from eight until five.
Uh, if it's an outside, uh, visitor,we, uh, we require, uh, notification so
we can be there to let them in and, andshow them around and maintain things.
We, we learned our lesson, uh,from back in the 1990s when
that rendering disappeared.
That, uh, when you have valuelike this, you, you, you welcome
(42:40):
everyone, but you have to be careful.
Uh, and, and the other thing,Dana, that we should mention is.
Y you know, Davidge Hallis a wonderful resource.
It's historical and it's probablyour most precious artifact.
But we have other schools on campus thathave really nice historical collection.
The nursing school, the pharmacyschool, uh, the law school.
It, it's a, it's really a, a, a prettysensational, uh, composite when you,
(43:04):
when you bring all of these collectionstogether of what the University of
Maryland, Baltimore has to offer.
Dan Rampolla (43:11):
You said that much more eloquently than I did, Larry.
Thank you.
Yes.
So we will be sure to includeeverything in in our show notes, you
know, the references that we've made.
Is there anything else that eitherof you would like to share with us?
We've really enjoyedhearing the story firsthand.
Meg Fielding (43:30):
No, I just, I, um.
I've really felt fortunate to have workedwith Larry over the last 10 or 12 years,
and, um, I think I've learned a lot fromhim and it's been a real privilege to,
to sort of have him as a colleague and
Larry Pitrof (43:45):
Well, the, the feelings mutual,
Meg, and, and I would just say to,to Charles and, and, uh, and Dana,
uh, this is a wonderful forum.
You guys have an excellent, um, uh,program here and it's a way for us to, uh,
to share this good news with the campus.
And it's, uh.
It's a real joy to work with you again.
Charles Schelle (44:03):
Absolutely.
It was great talking toyou, you, Larry, uh, Meg,
It was great talking to you aswell.
And thank you again forbringing Davidge home.
Meg Fielding (44:11):
My pleasure.
Larry Pitrof (44:13):
Thanks guys.
Meg Fielding (44:14):
Thank you.
Jena Frick (44:19):
The UMB Pulse with Charles Schelle and Dana Rampola
is a UMB Office of Communicationsand Public Affairs production.
Edited by Charles Schelle.
Marketing by Dana Rampolla.
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