2022 Poe Baltimore Year-In-Review

December 29, 2022

Strength & recovery in 2022. A list of Poe Baltimore programs and accomplishments from the year.

The Virginia Poe Bicentennial,, our commemoration of the 200th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe's beloved wife and muse, was a year of virtual and in-person programming including grave-side chats, hidden history, discussion series, and exhibits. Partners at Maryland Women's Heritage Center, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, and The Poe Cottage in New York, along with 22 speakers and contributions from over ten organizations, comprised our event series. We raised a teacup for Virginia's birthday weekend with a Gothic Tea Party and Summer Reception. This program raised over $50,000 for new interpretive signage in the cemetery where the Poe family is buried and new exhibits for Poe House.

This was an especially full year of programming for Poe Baltimore. Spring saw The post-pandemic return of Pints for Poe at Annabel Lee Tavern, and we participated for the first time as a sponsor of the International Edgar Allan Poe Conference in Boston, MA. Later in the Fall, Poe Baltimore hosted the Poe Society of Baltimore's 100th Annual Lecture. In addition to Virginia, programs highlighted members of Poe's family, including the Revolutionary War service of Poe's grandparents and Poe's fraught relationship with his foster-father, John Allan. Next year we will add our growing collection of Living History presentations (David Poe Sr., Virginia Poe, and Edgar's proposal of marriage) to house exhibits to share more of the family story with visitors.

Our yearly Poe Death Exhibit moved to Westminster Hall for the first time. Attendees explored the mystery of Poe's death and left missives at a special candlelight vigil steps away from Poe's grave. The new Virginia Poe exhibit also featured the morbid story of her death and afterlife with new death tableau for Virginia to lie in state next to her husband, complete with box of bones! A collection of funeral and memorial tokens from Poe to the present day included paper art, embroidery, and other crafts from metalwork to jewels made from human hair. The exhibit featured an App/Audio Guide with historical context provided by ArtOfMoruning.com. The exhibit later traveled to the Howard County Historical Society and The Laurel Museum.

The 5th Annual Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards was a resounding success with the most vendors, the most donations, and a new event record of 2500 attendees festival weekend. We welcomed hundreds more for our gothic wedding-themed gala, The Black Cat Ball: 'Til Death Do We Start. Author, Lynn Cullen, presented medals to six Saturday 'Visiter' Awards winners, and several couples took the opportunity of our special VIP ceremony in the Westminster catacombs to renew their real life eternal vows. Our Virginia Poe-themed exhibit at Westminster Hall rounded out a festival experience that extended well into the following week.

Looking ahead to 2023. A list of upcoming programs and anniversaries

There are several ways to support Poe House programs.

2022 Poe Baltimore & The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum Year-In-Review

To read a PDF copy of our retrospective, download it here: 2022 Poe Baltimore Year-in-Review

See previous years below.

2020 and 2021 Poe Baltimore Retrospective

Poe Baltimore and Poe House 2019 Year-in-Review