Maryland Day


Maryland Day

March 25Maryland Day, or Founder's Day, commemorates the landing of the first colonists there in 1634, and the first Roman Catholic Mass they celebrated. Named after Henrietta Maria, the consort of King Charles I (1600-1649) of England, Maryland was the first proprietary colony on the American mainland. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore (1580?-1632), was appointed by the king as proprietor, and as a Catholic he hoped to establish a refuge for other Catholics who had been persecuted in Anglican England. He was succeeded as head of the colony by his son, Cecilius Calvert (1605-1675), the second Lord Baltimore, who brought 200 more colonists over from England.
CONTACTS:
Maryland State Archives
Maryland Manual On-Line
350 Rowe Blvd.
Annapolis, MD 21401
800-235-4045 or 410-260-6400; fax: 410-974-3895
www.mdarchives.state.md.us
Maryland Secretary of State
State House
Annapolis, MD 21401
888-874-0013 or 410-974-5521; fax: 410-974-5190
www.sos.state.md.us
SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 231
AnnivHol-2000, p. 50
DictDays-1988, p. 74