One perpetual battle is the fierce tug of war between Annapolis (Maryland’s capital) and Baltimore. “There are constants in Baltimore political history that just stay there, sometimes for centuries.” “What I began to see is the way things stayed the same,” he says.

His Neighborhood Politics (1983, Harvard University Press) was a provocative investigation into how Baltimore’s local conflicts often provide more of a spur to communal action than solidarity.Ĭrenson says he came to see continuities in Baltimore political life throughout history as more striking than any changes. He scrapes away charm (and myth) to expose less savory features of civic history, including the herds of pigs that roamed Baltimore’s streets to dispose of garbage before the outbreak of the Civil War, and the noxious sewage that befouled the city’s air into the 20th century.Īs a professor and go-to source for political journalists, Crenson steeped himself in the city’s political history. Yet the metropolis known as “Charm City” has also been a haven for a distinguished line of artists, eccentrics, and malcontents.īaltimore: A Political History (Johns Hopkins University Press)-written by Matthew Crenson ’63, professor emeritus of political science-provides a comprehensive look at the manifold forces that influenced and impeded city government for more than 300 years.Ĭrenson also possesses a keen eye-and nose-for the two-way traffic between politics and the body politic.

A long parade of rugged patriots, corrupt politicos, and visionary reformers helped build Baltimore.

Matthew crenson baltimore