By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“Every museum I've been to, while they have individual photographs of people, they don't have a whole unit.” - Alexandra Reed, a curator at the Maryland Museum of Military History, of the Civil War soldiers from the Eastern Shore that the museum is seeking the public’s help identifying.
Happy Labor Day! We hope you can enjoy the holiday, and we have some stories for you to enjoy wile you observe.
The old-time photos of members of Civil War-era Company B, 2nd Regiment of the Maryland Eastern Shore Volunteers have been hanging on the wall of the Maryland Museum of Military History for years, but no one knows who the individual soldiers are. Now the museum is hoping the public can help put names to the faces of the Union soldiers who all enlisted in Chestertown. Christine Condon has that story.
Just in time for Labor Day, a new report says union membership grew last year at the fastest rate since 2008. But growth varied by state, with right-to-work states seeing smaller increases — and generally lower wages — than collective bargaining states like Maryland, as Kevin Hardy reports.
We also have the story of a new James Island rising out of the Chesapeake Bay, commentary and headlines from the past week for you to review. Enjoy your reading and enjoy the holiday!
The Maryland Museum of Military History is asking for help from the public to identify soldiers from the Eastern Shore in a set of Civil War-era photographs. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)
By Christine Condon
Nestled in the oldest armory in Maryland is a set of Civil War-era photographs vexing a small team of military historians. So they’re asking for help.
The historians at the Maryland Museum of Military History hope that genealogy whizzes or military history buffs might be able to identify the 45 Union soldiers pictured in a set of individual tintypes, each ensconced in its own intricate metal frame. The museum’s curators say that the framed collection is rare, in that it depicts an entire Civil War regiment. The curators know who was in the regiment — Company B, 2nd Regiment of the Maryland Eastern Shore Volunteers — based on military records. But they have no idea who’s who in the pictures.
They range in age from 16 to 44 years old, and historians believe they all enlisted in Chestertown within the same two-week period. They would go on to fight in battles at Falling Waters in Maryland, along with Lynchburg and Snicker’s Gap in Virginia. Alexandra Reed, a curator at the museum for the past four years, said the large frame has been hanging on the wall in the museum’s Civil War exhibit since she got there.
So far, Reed said, a few members of the public — along with the nonprofit Baltimore Heritage — have volunteered to help with the identification effort. But there haven’t been any breakthroughs yet.
Members of Virginia Professional Firefighters association hold signs during their biannual convention in May to protest Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s veto of collective bargaining legislation. New research found a significant spike in labor union membership, but growth is highly dependent upon state politics. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Kevin Hardy
Labor union membership continues to climb in the United States, though the increase remains sharply divided by the politics of individual states.
Last year, the nation added more than 411,000 union members — the largest annual growth since 2008, according to a study published just ahead of Labor Day by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the end of last year, more than 14.6 million American workers belonged to a union — about 10% of the workforce, the study said.
While union membership grew across the country, the State of the Unions report found that states that have sought to protect or strengthen collective bargaining rights added three times as many union members as so-called right-to-work states, which prohibit mandatory union membership or dues as conditions of employment. State governments are nearly evenly divided on labor policy, with 26 states having right-to-work laws. Maryland is not one of them. Union membership rates sit at about 14% in collective bargaining states and 5% in right-to-work states, while workers in collective bargaining states earn significantly more than those in other states, the survey found.
IN OTHER NEWS
A new island rises: Nearly two decades after it was conceived as a beneficial reuse site for dredged material from Bay shipping channels, a renewed James Island, recently just a spit of land, is rising from the bay near the mouth of the Little Choptank River.
Courting a fight: As public opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court sours, Democrats have renewed calls to expand the high court to 13 justices, while House Republicans attempted, but failed, to pass a constitutional amendment that proposes to cap the number at nine.
TODAY'S COMMENTARY
Physician assistants deliver quality health care and could do so much more if their ability to practice was not tied to a collaborating physician, writes Brandon McMullen, who says it's time to change that policy and further expand health access.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Ballot takes shape: While most attention was focused on the redistricting question and whether it would make the ballot, election officials this week were quietly certifying a handful of third-party candidates and putting their names on the ballot.
Data center pushback grows: Maryland has been at the forefront, but a wave of data center pushback is sweeping the Bay region, as distrust of the industry deepens and energy bills rise, even though a pause could cost some localities financial opportunities.
Reflecting Pool redux: A D.C. Superior Court judge seemed disinclined to allow any new felony charges against former Olympian David Hearn, after the White House dropped charges against the Maryland man accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool.
MOST-READ STORIES OF THE WEEK
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