baltimore

James H. Preston, also known as John H. Preston, (1860-1938), served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1890-1894. He was Mayor of Baltimore for two terms from 1911-1919. He was defeated when seeking a third term in 1919, and resumed the practice of law.

Preston graduated from the Law School of the University of Maryland in 1881 with an LL.B. degree. In 1894 he married Miss Helen Fiske Jackson (b.1874), the daughter of Wilbur Fiske Jackson (1849-1903), and niece of Governor Elihu E. Jackson (1837-1907). They had two sons and three daughters.

Mayor Preston was in the national news throughout 1914 as he was the president of the centennial commission directing impressive ceremonies as the people of the United States observed the 100th anniversary of the birth of the immortal anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." From July 8 to August 1, 1914, Commission President Mayor Preston toured dozens of major American cities by rail on a good will, centennial promotional tour.

President Wilson and former Presidents Taft and Roosevelt, vice presidents, former Governors of Maryland, the former Mayors of Baltimore along with the present Governors of the eighteen states in the union when Francis Scott Key wrote his national anthem, attended the ceremonies at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, September 6-13, 1914.

6,500 public school children formed a human flag on a special platform built for the occasion, followed by singing of the National Anthem accompanied by a 250 piece marching band. For the rest of their lives many of those children would self-describe themselves as "I was a red stripe" or "I was a white star" as they proudly told of their experience to others. The Official Programme for the National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial was 165 pages.   —Compiled: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

 
There is another photo of James Preston as a younger man in the Bain Collection of the LOC on Flickr:


 

wonderful excellent potrait

Thanks for the information and links! Here's another photograph of him, more fully identified, in our Harris & Ewing Collection: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.10639. We'll add information to the description when we next update.

Cardinal James Gibbons (1834-1921): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_gibbons

NYT of May 3, 1914, reports on the cardinal leaving Baltimore for New York, whence he would sail for Europe to visit the Pope. query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9803EFD81E39E633A... It reports that he would sail on the Prinzess[in] Irene with the Rev. Louis R. Stickney.

The Baltimore Archbishop got there okay: the New York Times of May 27, 1914, reports that Cardinal Gibbons, in Rome, on May 26 hosted a dinner for sixty; his guests included ten cardinals: query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9902E3DC1F39E6... While in Rome, Gibbons paid a farewill visit to the dying Pope Pius X (who described himself as a permanent exile from his beloved Venice). In July 1914, after Pius died, Gibbons had to make a return visit to Rome for the Conclave that elected the next Pope, Benedict XV.

A Baltimore hotelier: articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-01-11/features/0301110286_...

Rjones0856: Thanks for the information on Jerome H. Joyce, proprietor of the Hotel Joyce in Baltimore. According to the article on the you cited, Joyce was a "convivial and ebullient fellow with an enormous mustache and carefully cultivated Vandyke goatee." This seems to match the man in this photo! We will add some more information when we update.

I started a Wikipedia biography: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_H._Joyce

Thanks for the flickr and photo posting. My great, grand uncle, Duncan A. Gillies was Jerome's brother-in-law. Duncan was married to Jerome's sister Margaret Hoslin Joyce (1869-1930) in January, 1887. It was Senator Joyce's wedding, and Baltimore's social event of the year.