Programs

Mobtown and the 19th Century Gangs of Baltimore

News accounts would suggest that violence and mayhem have reached unprecedented levels in today's urban America. But 1850s Baltimore was a dangerous place. In this colorful lecture, Martin Ford introduces the Plug Uglies and Blood Tubs, nativist gangs that engaged in urban warfare with Irish and German immigrants, and terrorized Mobtown. Requires overhead projector and screen. Adult and high school audiences.

Martin Ford is Associate Director at the Maryland Office for Refugees and Aslyees (MORA) and former Executive Director of the Maryland Ethnic Heritage Commission. He has taught at Bowie State University and Towson University and was a Fulbright scholar in Liberia. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from SUNY-Binghamton, an M.A. in International Studies from Ohio University, and a B.A. in English Literature from Rutgers University.