The UMB Pulse Podcast
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is working to strengthen social impact and galvanize innovation. This season of “The UMB Pulse” podcast is featuring stories about how UMB is taking creative action to overcome barriers and solve social problems. Be sure to tune in – new episodes drop on the FIRST FRIDAY of the month! “The UMB Pulse” is produced by the UMB Office of Communications and Public Affairs. Co-hosted by Charles Schelle, lead social media specialist and Dana Rampolla, director of integrated marketing.
The UMB Pulse Podcast
From Lost to Found: The Discovery of John Davidge's Portrait
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.
one man's trash is another man's treasure, and we found a goldmine potentially, uh, for the University 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 long lost portrait of UMB's Founding Father John Beale Davidge.
Dan Rampolla: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, too many secrets, but it was recently found after a restaurant called Bertha's Mussels Maybe somebody remembers the stickers that I think the stickers used to always be on, on bumpers, and they would say, Eat Bertha's Mussels So Bertha's was a local establishment, very well known in Fells Point, closed down a couple of years ago when the owners retired and just recently they had an estate auction. And through that auction this little treasure was found.
Charles Schelle: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 talking about from the, uh, Maryland Medical Alumni Association. If you've listened to our podcast before and with Larry on here, you've learned a little bit about Davidge Hall. Which you'll hear about again. And he had that another incredible find, uh, a couple years ago with Moonlight Graham, the University of Maryland School of Medicine student, who you probably better know as , a character in the Field of Dreams movie like. Who would've thunk it? And so another nice summertime find is why we're bringing Larry, uh, on the program again, along with Meg Fairfax Fielding, um, who, uh, Dana, tell us a little bit about Megan and how she kind of plays into this.
Dan Rampolla:Yeah, she's the director of the history of Maryland Medicine at MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, and she had a friend who just happened to hear about a certain portrait that you will learn has great meaning to the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and most specifically our School of Medicine.
Charles Schelle:So without further ado, let's take a little antique road show as it seems, uh, and listen to Larry and Meg's incredible discovery of the portrait of John Davidge.
Jena Frick:You are listening to the heartbeat of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the UMB Pulse.
Dan Rampolla:Welcome to both of you. I would love if you could start out just by introducing yourselves, share your role at UMB, your connection with the Maryland Medical Society, because I imagine there's plenty of UMB alumni involved with the medical society.
Meg Fielding:I'm Meg Fairfax Fielding. I'm the head of the History of Medicine in Maryland for MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society. And, uh, we have a long time connection with, uh, um, university School of Medicine because in 1807 we help found the school. Our official name is the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of of Maryland, and the faculty part comes from that we were the original faculty of what is now the School of Medicine. And so I've worked with Larry for eight or 10 years now on different things.
Larry Pitrof:Yeah. And I'm Larry Pitrof, executive director of the Medical Alumni Association. I've been at the university since 1994, and Meg is absolutely correct when she says, uh, we collaborate on a number of things with Med Chi And, uh, this was, uh, what people are gonna be hearing about today is just, um, one of them that we're very proud of.
Dan Rampolla:Well, thank you both for joining us. Um, Larry, before we dive into the actual discovery, can you give us a little bit of background about John Davidge and his significance to UMB?
Larry Pitrof:Well, um, you have to take yourself back to early medicine, uh, in America. And, um, medicine, uh, organized medicine was, um, was distrusted back then. Physical diagnosis was in its infancy because the profession wasn't really regulated until MedChi came around in 1799. Uh, doctors often found themselves competing with, uh, barbershop, surgeons, um, people of the ministry. Um, street Corner Apothecaries. Uh, and then there was this group of organized doctors, medical degree doctors, largely who came from, received their medical educations in Europe. And they did these crazy things like dissected dead bodies to learn how the body functioned. So damage grew up, uh, in that era, and he was educated at, um, in Glasgow University of Glasgow, uh, was originally from Annapolis, returned to Maryland, uh, and opened up a private practice in Harford County, and then eventually moved down to, uh, the Baltimore area where he was advocating for the founding of a medical college in addition to the founding of a medical society that would help, uh, regulate the profession. And there was a series of Yellow Fever epidemics in the late 1700s, uh, that, um, really allowed the school or the effort to found a school, uh, to gain some ground because, uh, it was horrible for the state of, um, Maryland and actually the entire eastern seaboard , when yellow Fever appeared, it was usually in summer, uh, and it happened in low-lying areas. I think Meg will confirmed that most of them in Baltimore started down in Fells Point. That, uh, Davidge became a real recognized figure because nobody understood what caused yellow fever. And there was a. A large scale effort to clear out when that happened. Most people headed for higher grounds, including many of the doctors who were responsible for treating their patients. And Davidge was one of these individuals that had a, a belief that, uh, yellow fever was not contagious. He stayed in Baltimore and he provided a 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 o of the day in in early Baltimore.
Charles Schelle:It, it's an incredible story about John Davidge, um, and, and his connection to, to Baltimore then in the history here. And, um, it's great having you on again, Larry. Um, we had you on a couple years ago talking about the discovery of some letters and, and documents involving Moonlight Graham, and who would've thought here coincidentally near another All-Star game break maybe from, with Major 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. So if you're listening to this podcast, this is a very visual podcast for, for this episode. So. If you haven't, visit our YouTube channel, 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 infamous portrait, um, tell us, uh, about the background of the oldest known portrait of John Davidge being found at Bertha's Muscles in Fells Point. Meg, how did it come to your attention?
Meg Fielding:Um, I got a text message from an old friend of mine, an old sailing buddy of mine, and who I literally have probably not talked to in 10 years, and she said, Hey, I'm cleaning out Bertha's and found this painting and I know that you're with a medical society. And I frequently post, um, pictures of some of the portraits we have. We have about 120 portraits of physicians. And she said, you know, I thought 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 of Medicine that covers the first century of our being from 1799 to 1899. And in it, there's a small, black and 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 me know if you're interested in it. And you know, just, um, so I sent her a figure and in the meantime, this was the day that Bertha's was being auctioned off. So there was a lot going on and they were trying to clear out the building, um, for the buildings to be auctioned off. So, um. I, she, they accepted the price that I had sent them. And then on Saturday morning, so this was Thursday, Friday, so it was between Thursday and Monday. So Saturday morning went over 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 got it a flea market or something like that. And he said, I don't really remember. And I barely remembered having it. And you know. They found it in a closet. So anyway, I took, um, John home for 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 pretty appropriate for the period. And then Monday morning, uh, when I got to the office, um, I, um, emailed Larry and said, Hey, who? Who, um, painted the portrait of John David that you have, and that was when he told me. They really didn't have one and that it had been stolen. And when he said it was stolen, I just was like, oh my god, you know, I'm thinking, um, in possession of stolen goods that you paid for. Yeah. So I was like, so he said, no, it was small and I think he said it was oval. And um, clearly the portrait I have could not have ever been that because it was much bigger. So I said, you know, I found this portrait of, uh, John Davidge over the weekend, or would you be interested in seeing it? And, you know, I could picture Larry jumping out of his chair with excitement. So, um, drove down later that afternoon and, um, I think the, the best part about it's, I actually got a really good parking space. Um, so, um. Took it over to see him and, and I had to stop and just put him on the front step of Davidge Hall and 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 there somewhere, the other he is. Um, and then Larry, you can take over from here.
Larry Pitrof:Well, when the email came, we were really stunned, to be honest with you. Um, we had no idea anything like this even existed. I knew when Meg emailed that she knew what she had. There was no question about it. The thing you have to know about Meg Fielding is she's extremely knowledgeable. Uh, she's selfless and, and, uh, she's always working for the greater good. And when the email came, I just said to myself, well, here we go again. You know, and I, I knew she knew what she had. And when she followed up with the email with the. With the portrait, it, I knew we 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 that it, it needs a little work. And you can see by the image that there was, 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 probably needs to have a little work done. Uh, but make no mistake about it. We, we, we posted it, we put it up on, in the for display, uh, an 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 time when, uh, Davidge Hall was open with a key lock, and from eight until five, Monday through Friday, it was open to the public. You know, we get a lot of people who like to come in and visit a national historic landmark, and we we're very welcoming for that. You know, when it disappeared, we're not even sure. All I remember is my former, uh, chairman of my Davidge Hall committee, Mickey Foxwell, the late Mickey Foxwell, came in and said, boy, what happened to the rendering we had of Davidge up there? And that was the first time I realized 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 bicentennial celebration in 2007, uh, we commissioned a portrait and it was based on photos from that rendering that we had that was stolen, as well as some written accounts by Eugene Cordell, which brought out Davidge's blue eyes and his appearance. And, and we commissioned this portrait in 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. And the truth is we didn't realize how good she did until Meg brought this painting in because the two really have a striking resemblance. But it was, you know, there was no secret to what we were gonna be doing. We, we were retired the uh, the commissioned Davidge portrait and, and we, um, we displayed the, the current one. And, and, uh, she and I both refer to it as the, the Mona Lisa. Uh, when, when you look at it, I don't know if you, you, you folks have ever been to the Louvre in Paris, but you know, you walk around this enormous museum and there are these busts and these sculpted pieces that are just enormous. And then you walk into the room where Mona Lisa is, and it's proportionately a very small painting, but it's so powerful and you get that agree with me or not. Meg, you get that same feeling when you look at the damage rendering, don't you?
Meg Fielding:Mm-hmm. You just, you, you get a feeling of who he is and, you know, it's a very, it's well done. I mean, and what we suspect that it was done, it, it, it says it was a copy and we suspect it was a copy of a portrait that had been done during his life. And so it was the copy of that. Um, but then there's some difference between, because A.L. Raska. You know, it says New York, 1844, but Raska wasn't born for about another 20 years, so we're just not sure about all that. I've seen one, um, something that says that it was, the portrait was from Davidge's great-great-grandson, and then something else that says it's from his grandson. So there's some investigation to be done on the painting. Um, but I think that's all sort of secondary to the fact that we, you have the painting now and nobody knew about it.
Charles Schelle:This really sounds like we need a special edition of Antiques Road Show to show up here because it is. This painting was acquired originally in a flea market, was in a restaurant, and then you paid some money for it. Let's just say, I didn't know how much you paid for it, but it'd be a great Antique Road Show moment if it was like, I paid $20 for this and uh, and now it's appraised at, you know what?
Meg Fielding:Somebody asked me what the value of it was and I said, you know, it might not have a lot of artistic value or whatever, but the value to the university is, you know, you can't put money on that because there's never been a painting like that. You know, there's never going to be a painting like that. It's irreplaceable and you know, the money really actually doesn't matter. Um, so, but there are actually a couple of people who work on road show who are in Baltimore, so we may be able 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 used to say money and fair words. So that's, that's what we need.
Charles Schelle:And, and to follow up on what you were talking about here on the frame, we see, we see presented by family of Walter Dorsey Davidge. And so you, you were saying, is that the great grandson?
Meg Fielding: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 grandson named Walter Dorsey Davidge. Um. I said we have a collection of about 120 portraits here that go back to this late 1700s. And this is like, the plaque is very consistent with what the plaques on those portraits look like. Um, you know, you can see that some of the gilding has rubbed off on the bottom rail, which is really common because when you're cleaning 'em, you tend to clean the bottom rail, not the top rail. Um, you know, the gilding is right and the canvas is right for that. Um. Period of time. So I suspect it's more his grandson than his great-great grandson,'cause great-great grandson would bring it into the, you know, 1900s.
Charles Schelle:How do you verify its authenticity? Like who, who's available? I, I mean we have great art museums in, in the region, but like, who could be tapped into to kind of help, help track down that, that art mystery?
Larry Pitrof:I should also add that we're, we're reaching out to the Davidge family. Uh, we do keep in touch with a couple of the, of the descendants. Uh, as a matter of fact, they had a, a mini reunion of about 30 of them, uh, in Davidge Hall about, uh, eight years ago. And the name Dorsey Davidge is consistent with the family lineage. We've all seen that. Um, and I'm hoping the family can hope, can help tie that together. So. The, the investigation does continue. Um, but I would agree with Meg based on the, the portraits that we have on display in the building. Uh, this is a, a time period and as she said, the name plate, uh, it's all consistent with what we have in Davidge Hall right now with, uh, some of his other colleagues who were, uh, working beside him back, back in that day.
Dan Rampolla:That's so fun. Um, backing up to what you had said about, um, having the piece commissioned, you said that, um, in reading some information, you found out that he had blue eyes and a couple of other notable things. Is there anything about this portrait that is unique compared to the Davidge imagery that you've seen before?
Larry Pitrof:I, and personally, I, I haven't seen any. It, it's, it's remarkably consistent. Uh, when you look at the clothing he's wearing, uh, the expression he has on his face, uh, that was pretty consistent with portraits that were being done during that time period. So I, I didn't notice any. How about you, Meg?
Meg Fielding:No, it's, um, it's similar to the one that's in our, Medical Annals of Maryland, um, which was , one of the Eugene Cordell publications. Um, you know, he's wearing the same sort of cravat and coat and things like that, but that's, you know, that's what everybody wore at that point in time. Um, so, you know, and that's why we sort of suspect that the picture was done during, hi, it's a copy of a picture dur done during his lifetime. So, and the blue eyes. I think there's something maybe in the annals that says about his blue eyes. And like a lot of times you can look at a photograph and tell somebody's got blue eyes because that's what it looks like. Um, not dark brown eyes or anything like that. So.
Larry Pitrof: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 of Maryland and he was the first professor of history at the medical school here. And he spent, uh, the latter part of his life, uh, documenting the early medicine, uh, in Maryland. And it's been a terrific, uh, resource to us. 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 his history for the first a hundred years,
Meg Fielding: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 Pitrof:It's in the special room, Meg, where you gotta wear the gloves when you open it up because it's so precious.
Meg Fielding:No, I have about 12 copies of it, so it's like, yeah, whatever. Um, yeah, so. You know that a lot of the information is consistent. So, you know, it, it's, it all follows a path and which leads us to, to, you know, what we've sort of discern about it. So,
Charles Schelle: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 artwork in museum artifacts and preserving and interpreting that legacy of Davidge Hall?
Larry Pitrof:Yeah. That's a really good, uh, question and Meg's gonna smile when I when I talk about this because this recent find is very consistent. You know, our, our museum collection is, 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 gets discarded over the years because they just don't understand the value and the medical 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 forget what they were, what they were using 50 and 75 years ago. And it oftentimes winds up in a basement somewhere when someone comes along and says, this is just clutter. We need to move on with this. And, uh, some of us will remember the late, uh, Dr. Ted Woodward. He, he was a professor of medicine here for about 50 years, and he would walk into the alumni office. I can recount this several times and say, Larry. Here's, here's another artifact that I was able to find for you. And, uh, it, it's always something that, that was of, of terrific value to us. So our museum in Davidge Hall, we don't refer to it as a living museum. It's really a museum that reflects back on early medical education in Maryland, because obviously the building itself, the shell is the most valuable piece of the collection, right? Because it's the oldest existing facility that we have in America that was used for medical education. So what we want to put into the building and display into the building, uh, are, are these artifacts that tell a story about 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 tell and we're delighted to te to tell it. And, uh, again, you know, here's, here's a a another piece now, in the past month after 200 years, that's fi that's finding its way into, into Davidge Hall. That helps us tell that story.
Charles Schelle:Keeping on, about the building, it's been undergoing some work, some touch up, some facelifts, and also giving some modern comfort and, and conveniences. Can you maybe update us a little bit about, uh, where are we at with some of the work going on?
Larry Pitrof:Yeah. Uh, touchups is a loosely uh, uh, used word. Uh, this is, this is massive. Uh, and it's restoration work. Uh, it started about five, six years ago now, where we, we started just by relocating the restrooms. As you might expect, restrooms were not a part of, of the medical building when it was constructed. There were, there were outhouses and so when they were, when plumbing was brought into the building. Uh, the, the, uh, the restrooms were put in place is that today, by today's terms, they, they, it wouldn't be an area where you'd like to have them in the building. And so we relocated those and then moved ahead with a complete overhaul of the HVAC system, the air conditioning, uh, Charles and, and, uh, Dana, you've walked into Davidge Hall, you know, in the last four or five years, and it can be very uncomfortable. It's warm during the. Uh, the summer and cold during the, the, the, the winter. Uh, and so that's, that's been taken care of now. And so we're now turning our attention to the aesthetics. Uh, but there's more to it than that. Uh, there's a sprinkler system that has to be changed out, an alarm system that needs to be replaced. So they're gonna be opening up walls and. And, uh, manipulating pipes and things like that. And there's a lot of plaster repair and painting that's going to have to be done in addition to what is perhaps, uh, the, the highest regarded room, uh, in the building. And that's the anatomical theater on the third floor where all of this original plaster on the dome has been crumbling, uh, for the past 15 years now. Uh, we replaced the, the, uh, the roof, uh, back in, uh, 2001 when we completed the project, but due to some 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 water damage that's going to be repaired, uh, on the, uh, on the dome. Uh, and, and that's that we're, we're very excited about it. It isn't gonna be cheap, uh, but this is work that's, that's really critical to the aesthetics of the building as well as the overall, um, functionality of the building itself. But none of that could get done until the roof is replaced. So I need to give a, uh, a shout out to President Jarrell Um. He has been instrumental in improving the campus for those of us who live and work around, uh, the campus itself. And Davidge Hall has been a priority of his. And so, uh, in addition to the, the funding that the alumni are bringing into this mix, we've been tenants in the building since, uh, 1958 when we 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 has been 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 things like that from a fundraising perspective. But to try to convince someone that we need to change out the HVAC system, it's not as easy as, as you think. And so, Dr. Jarrell has been very active and proactive fronting some of the university funds to help make this happen and, and we're just truly grateful to him.
Dan Rampolla:That's fantastic.
Meg Fielding: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, you know, preserving the history. I don't know whether you can see right there. Those are old French, um, medical dictionaries from our early 1800s. And I saw 'em at an auction and, you know, nobody bid on 'em. So I'm like. And you know, you can see just around me, I have some of the sort of extra paintings from our offices and you know, it's important, but some people, it's not important to them. I mean, I've had people say, get this painting outta my office. I can't stand having this guy looking over my shoulder all day. And, um, you know, they're just, they're not interested. So that's how, you know, things get discarded and, and you know, I just always shudder to think about, 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 Rampolla:We have an old, or we had an old, we call, always called it the cage in our building on campus, and at one point they were doing some renovating down there, and one of my coworkers and I 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 God knows when they were, I mean, you know, they were dated, I don't remember now, but they, they were old and I thought if somebody else would've walked in, they would've just thrown this stuff away. It would've had no meaning. And you know, it's still just sitting in a bin in our storage closet now, but at least it's still there. It's safe and you know, we need to figure out what to do with it and where to place those pieces as well. Um,
Larry Pitrof:Dana, you know, that's, that's the critical discussion that needs to have happened because, uh, you know, I'll just give you an example. You know, in, in Davidge Hall for years now, before the HVAC system was changed out, the humidity levels and heat was just oppressive. And rather than holding onto the, to the publications, to the old books that we have, we just literally move them up to the Health Sciences Library, the rare book room. In our Health Sciences Library that, uh, Tara Wink oversees right now. So we've developed that partnership because 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 had some pieces of medical artifacts. That were more fitting for MedChi to have. 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 of the 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 shaker in the early medicine in America. But the truth is he had nothing to do with the founding of the medical school and never stood, you know, stepped foot in Davidge Hall and yet MedChi -- to MedChi, he was one of the founders. And so we simply just arranged a, a portrait swap with, with Meg and you know, we both won from it. So I, you know, you constantly have to be going through the exercise when you come a medical artifact. And then when I mentioned how selfless Meg is, you know, when she found this piece on John Davidge, she obviously came to the conclusion that it was more fitting for the, for the portrait to wind up in Davidge Hall. It would've been a great addition to MedChi, but she just felt it was a better fit. And, and that's the, the give and take 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 to that can help us make it fit? So I, I couldn't agree more.
Meg Fielding:Um. Sorry, Larry. I said, you know, this is such a Smalltimore story because, you know, this old sailing friend of mine happened to know what I did, you know, that I would know about the painting. And then I've worked with Larry on and on for the past 12 years and, um, you know, I know what they have, they know what we have, you know, we swap things back and forth and, um, you know, once. Literally, once I found out that they didn't have a painting, it was like, there was just no question in my mind that it needed to be at Davidge Hall. There was just no other place for it in my mind. Um, so I talked to our CEO and we, we actually split the cost of the painting. Um, I paid for half of it, and MedChi 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 outta there and just feeling like this is, this is where it, it, this is where it belongs. This is, its home now. You know? Um, I know that that was, that, that was a fun feeling.
Dan Rampolla:How fortunate are we all, especially in this day and time where so many people are constantly in competition, and what I mean, this truly is a symbiotic relationship that you're describing where you're looking out for the betterment of not each other as people, but what you represent. You know, it goes beyond that and really an awesome, fun story.
Meg Fielding: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 interested in the story as we've been. Um,
Larry Pitrof:I think it's a lesson that good news can also sell newspapers, right?
Meg Fielding:Yes. Yeah. Absolutely.
Larry Pitrof:Yeah.
Meg Fielding:Yeah.
Charles Schelle:Clicks on websites. So yeah. Thanks for the Baltimore Fishbowl for mm-hmm. Publishing the, the initial article out there where Meg, you were involved as well. So, um, we appreciate that, um, because that, yeah, that, that definitely went viral and we appreciate viral in a good way. Uh,
Meg Fielding: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 story and he's just been so excited about it. And I think it's a real coup for him that, you know, it is just the story that he wrote, you know, one of his first big stories. So, uh, hopefully to keep him on a journalistic path, uh, for his career.
Charles Schelle: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 maybe is missing, you're trying to find that you need to put an APB out. Say, Hey, we would really like to have this in our collection. If, you know, if it exists or where it is, please let us know.
Larry Pitrof:I, I would just, I would just, uh, word it this way, Charles. I would just say, if you think you have something before you throw it out, just give us a call and we'll be happy to talk to you about it.
Meg Fielding:Yeah. I got a call the other day from the, um, Carroll County Farm Museum and they said, oh, we found a couple boxes of stuff here and it was a donation or a, a something you lent us in 1965. Mm-hmm. And, um, we were just kind of wondering if you wanna come look at it and see if there's anything you want.'cause she said, you know. By law, it's ours now. I'm like, whatever. Um, but you just, she said it just was this random couple boxes of stuff and some of it was veterinary medicine, but others was people medicine. So, um, going up there next month to go look at it and see what they have. Um, so you just never know where something's gonna come from. I mean. You, you just don't.
Charles Schelle:Yeah. I mean, even in the bigger cultural context, the, um, museums in the past, I would say decade have have taken a, a look at themselves about the provenance of things, and especially with the colonial times and eras, like, okay, this is more appropriate to return certain items to the original country, right. And, um, to, to the people that they belong. 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 in Baltimore between the portrait swap and, uh, you know, you finding, uh, uh, Davidge in the, in a restaurant storage rooms. So anything's possible. It's good that people still have good intentions.
Meg Fielding:The thing I was really worried about with the painting is, you know, God, if I'd been sitting in Bertha's for 50 years or whatever, um, you know, we all remember the days of when you could smoke in a restaurant and you'd get all dressed up to go to, you know, out to a bar or something, and then you come home just wreaking like a, you know, an ashtray. And I was just thinking, oh, I hope this painting doesn't smell and I hope there's just not like a scrim of nicotine on it. And, um, it was in, it was in very good shape. You know, I, uh, got into the car and I'm like.
Charles Schelle:I was actually more concerned maybe if there was like, um, you know, cooking grease, you know, layered on there from, from the fryers over, over the years.
Meg Fielding:I would hope it wouldn't have been in the kitchen. That would've been a little frightening.
Charles Schelle:Yeah. Um, how are, are there any other people involved, um, either in, in the continued journey or the discovery and restoration that, that you wanna shout out? I know, um, Larry, you, you'd shouted out Tara Wink for, uh, her involvement with some of the stuff that you're doing, um, with special items.
Meg Fielding:So I'd like to mention Carolyn Brownley, who is the person who actually alerted me. Um. I said she is, uh, we used to sail together. We had this all, all women sailing group. And um, so I've known her for years and that, you know, it just was very, you know, fortuitous that she remembered this was what I did and that I posted pictures of old doctors before. And so, you know, she had the, you know, foresight to call me and, or text me and get in touch with me about it. And, um, you know, it was sort of her that started this, this chain. Of actions that resulted in the painting being where it belongs.
Larry Pitrof:You know, the, the only thing that I, I guess I'd add would be collecting, uh, artifacts is 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. They, they, they aren't worth what? And, and oftentimes it's, it's a set of books, you know, 20th century books that, um, had been sitting in one of the doctor's libraries and he died and the family didn't wanna throw 'em out because they're kept in such good shape, and what do we do with these? And there, there isn't a lot of value and there isn't a lot of space to receive everything. So you make recommendations on, on what to do. And oftentimes it's encouraging them to go to their local historical society and, and ask if they're interested 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 to everybody who considers, um. Donating artifacts, but understand that it is a, uh, it's a thankless job when you really look at it, and I, you know, when, when Meg got that call from her friend, I, I would imagine she would, she would agree 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 Fielding:I mean, I bought the painting basically sight unseen, you know, I saw a picture of it, you know, she texted 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 a 1950s portrait of Davidge, I still thought it was important to acquire. Um, you know, and, and I try to be pretty judicious about what we acquire here because it's not like we have a shortage of books. We have a Stacks library here with 55,000 books. So it's not like I need a whole bunch of new ones. But as I said, these that I got at auction. I think I paid $40 for 60 volumes of this. So, you know, it was, it was a worthwhile purchase. So.
Charles Schelle:We've, um, we, we had another episode years ago with the National Museum of Dentistry, and we got to go into their storage room. And that's the thing, like museums beyond what they have on display, there's a lot of storage and just the, the effort it takes to catalog everything and just make sure you actually have room and space for everything. And, you know, they're dealing with like things as small as, you 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's what you have to kind of turn away.
Larry Pitrof:And that's, that's just part of it. You know, it, it's very expensive. And, and these days, not only do you keep them in your repository, but it's important if they're, if there'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 commitment that an institution makes when it's talking about a historical repository. If you take it seriously, it's, it's very important, but it's, it's invaluable to an institution because of the prestige and just the information sharing that it offers.
Meg Fielding:I'm still cataloging our Rare Books collection, and even 12 years later, I'm still finding information 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, back through all our medical journals and bulletins and, you know, done a search. 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 the early two thousands because we realized we weren't taking good care of 'em. Um, but even with the ones that I've found that were sort of like the second rate ones, I mean that collection's worth, you know, three quarters of a million dollars. So, you know, that's not something to sneer at. So, um. I think the earliest book I've found so far is 1567. And Wow. You know, that's not even, uh, that early of a book, but it's still, you know, you hold this in your hand and you know, you feel the history. And I think that's, you know, you have to have that kind of mindset. You know, you either have that in your historian or you just don't care. And it always shocks me, and I know, I'm pretty sure with Larry too, it shocks. Probably shocks you that people aren't interested in history. Oh yeah. Whatever. So.
Dan Rampolla: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 buildings and these different pieces of history. Larry, can you, you mentioned that the portrait's going to be, or is already being displayed publicly. What if someone wants to come by? We'll put some of this in our show notes, but what if someone wants to come by and see the portrait? Do you have regular hours?
Larry Pitrof: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, and show 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 value like this, you, you, you welcome everyone, but you have to be careful. Uh, and, and the other thing, Dana, that we should mention is. Y you know, Davidge Hall is a wonderful resource. It's historical and it's probably our most precious artifact. But we have other schools on campus that have really nice historical collection. The nursing school, the pharmacy school, uh, the law school. It, it's a, it's really a, a, a pretty sensational, uh, composite when you, when you bring all of these collections together of what the University of Maryland, Baltimore has to offer.
Dan Rampolla:You said that much more eloquently than I did, Larry. Thank you. Yes. So we will be sure to include everything in in our show notes, you know, the references that we've made. Is there anything else that either of you would like to share with us? We've really enjoyed hearing the story firsthand.
Meg Fielding:No, I just, I, um. I've really felt fortunate to have worked with Larry over the last 10 or 12 years, and, um, I think I've learned a lot from him and it's been a real privilege to, to sort of have him as a colleague and
Larry Pitrof: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:Absolutely. It was great talking to you, you, Larry, uh, Meg, It was great talking to you as well. And thank you again for bringing Davidge home.
Meg Fielding:My pleasure.
Larry Pitrof:Thanks guys.
Meg Fielding:Thank you.
Jena Frick:The UMB Pulse with Charles Schelle and Dana Rampola is a UMB Office of Communications and Public Affairs production. Edited by Charles Schelle. Marketing by Dana Rampolla.
