Larmore Fellow Lecture—The Curious Case of Kent Island and the Making of Maryland's Founding

This talk by MCHC’s Ashby M. Larmore Research Fellow, Victoria Barnett-Woods, PhD, will examine the events that led to the death of Thomas Smith, a Kent Islander executed for piracy at the behest of the Lord Baltimore. Far more than an account of Maryland’s first recorded case of piracy, this event reveals the tangled complexity that surrounded Maryland’s very beginnings, particularly connected to tensions of land, trade, and Indigenous relations. Whirling around the man Thomas Smith is a story of Maryland’s start, and—generations later—the serendipitous meeting of two descendants who are eager to share his—and their—story. Made possible by the generous support of the Ashby M. Larmore Fellowship Program. A light reception will follow.