{"id":10591,"date":"2025-06-24T14:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T14:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=10591"},"modified":"2025-07-03T14:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:57:57","slug":"montrose-mansion-receives-an-anonymous-donation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2025\/06\/24\/montrose-mansion-receives-an-anonymous-donation\/","title":{"rendered":"Montrose Mansion Receives an Anonymous Donation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photos and Article by Chazz Kibler<\/span><\/p>\n

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Maryland Military Department\u2019s Alexandra Reed, archivist trainee, left, Richard Morain, museum volunteer, middle, and Parker Reilly, archivist trainee, all with the Maryland Museum of Military History, pose for a photo with curated furniture from an anonymous donor at the Montrose Mansion at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, Maryland, on June 6, 2025. Over 40 items varying in historical value were curated, ranging from furniture, dinnerware and cutlery, art, music sheets, and more. (Photo by Chazz Kibler)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

REISTERSTOWN, Md.\u2014<\/b>Members of the Maryland Military Department\u2019s Maryland Museum of Military History facilitated the curation of items given by an anonymous donor to be displayed at the Montrose Mansion at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, Maryland, on June 6, 2025. Over 40 items varying in historical value were curated, ranging from furniture, dinnerware and cutlery, art, music sheets, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis donation of the items, many with ties to prominent Maryland families, was made with the aim of promoting Maryland’s unique cultural heritage and in honor of the current amazing leadership of the Maryland National Guard and its forces that continue the mission of securing and defending American freedoms,\u201d said the anonymous donor.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CFMR is home to several Maryland National Guard units, and the MMD maintains its grounds and facilities. One of them is the Montrose Mansion, a 19th-century structure acquired by the state of Maryland in the 1920s for use as a juvenile educational institution. Now, the mansion serves as a location for hosting events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBeing true antiques and period antiques, much closer to what would have originally furnished the mansion, lends prestige to the whole organization,\u201d said MMD\u2019s Barbara Taylor, museum director, Maryland Museum of Military History. \u201cEveryone thinks of the military as military uniforms, guns, and military protocol, but there’s a softer side to the military. They care about their history. And this donation shows the MDNG actually cares about art and Maryland history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antiques were not the only thing the anonymous donor provided to the Montrose Mansion; they also supplied their interior design input for the items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was a very different collection to handle only because it requires decorating a house with items, which is completely different from decorating a museum,\u201d said MMD\u2019s Alexandra Reed, archivist trainee, Maryland Museum of Military History. \u201cThankfully, the donor had an idea of where to set things, which was very nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

To assist even further, the donor also assessed the artifacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe artifacts were incredibly well researched and turned over to us by the donor,\u201d said MMD\u2019s Richard Morain, a museum volunteer with the Maryland Museum of Military History. \u201cThey let us know the provenance of exactly what it is we were dealing with, as well as the time period that it came from. And in some cases, they provided links to why pieces would be a good fit for the Montrose Mansion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In reflecting on the importance of community support for local history, Taylor emphasized the crucial role that public generosity plays in preserving our heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMuseums and even the Maryland National Guard at large, in regard to the mansion, cannot exist without the generosity of the general public, especially those who see a need and fill it,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cWe are really indebted to those who are generous and care enough about their city, county, or state’s history to make sure that it is preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photos and Article by Chazz Kibler REISTERSTOWN, Md.\u2014Members of the Maryland Military Department\u2019s Maryland Museum of Military History facilitated the curation of items given by an anonymous donor to be displayed at the Montrose Mansion at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, Maryland, on June 6, 2025. Over 40 items varying in historical value were  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":10592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[811,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10591"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10669,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10591\/revisions\/10669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}