Marylanders love Edgar Allan Poe - his suspenseful, creepy stories ensnare middle schoolers across the state every year! The celebrated poet met his untimely death in Baltimore and is buried there - you can visit his grave! The Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore has a wonderful special collection of Poe-related items. You can make an appointment to view them in person by calling 443-984-2451. Unfortunately for us, that wasn't really an option as we are about two hours west of Baltimore. Enter Mr. Michael Johnson! Mr. Johnson is the manager of the Poe special collection. He brought replicas of artifacts from the Poe collection to our students. His 25-minute presentation was a great overview of Poe's life and gave the students some solid background knowledge to kick off their module on suspense (featuring the works of Edgar Allan Poe). Of particular interest to the students was the fact that Poe married his 12-year-old first cousin, Virginia... when he was 25 years old! As you can imagine, the students were surprised and appalled. Mr. Johnson brought reproductions of several letters and poems written by and about Poe, and discussed his life and death with the students. I was fascinated by the letters and how they were addressed - even though they only had the addressee's name and the city of Baltimore, MD, they were able to be delivered. Incredible! Check out these great pictures! It was a wonderful experience that we are lucky to have been able to give to our students. I highly recommend that you contact Mr. Johnson and have him come present to your students, too! Here is is contact information if you are interested:
Michael K. Johnson Manager, Special Collections Enoch Pratt Free Library/Maryland's State Library Resource Center 443-984-2451 [email protected]
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About the AuthorHi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Christine Hurley. This is my 17th year of teaching - I've taught Kindergarten, 4th grade, elementary media, and now I am in my 6th year of teaching middle school media! Archives
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