Blog

Where Craft, Community, and Courage Meet.

Along the waterfront of Baltimore, generations ago, skilled Black ship caulkers sealed the hulls of wooden ships that carried goods, people, and history across the world. Their expertise made Baltimore a maritime force. Yet their stories — their names, their homes, their community — were too often left out of the record.

Today, the nonprofit organization, Friends of the Ship Caulkers' Houses, is leading the effort to preserve, restore, and interpret this history with care and accuracy. This blog is a place to document that journey — the history, the research, the restoration process, and the people carrying this story forward.