Post Card Project at the University of Baltimore       ( PPB)

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In December 2000, Bert Smith donated his entire Baltimore post card collection to the University of Baltimore Educational Foundation. He gave the collection to the university not to gather dust in a box, but in the hope that creative people would use them, and that they'll be seen and enjoyed by Baltimoreans for many years.

To that end he created the Post Card Project as a way to tell people about the collection and to remind them that it’s there to be used and, most of all, that they can add to it. His 477 postcards are only the first pieces of a collection that can grow to many thousands and include not just Baltimore, but all of Maryland, and serve as a popular resource for researchers, preservationists, historians, as well as creative directors.

A talented student of Bert's, Debbie Fritz, designed the above logo to resemble a postcard and to stylistically reflect the collection’s special focus on cards from the first half of the last century. However, it will not be limited to the past, but reflect the present and future and serve as a ongoing record of the city and state.

Shortly after the establishment of the Post Card Project Bert's friend and local artist, Greg Otto, generously donated a set of his postcards. Greg's postcards are miniature versions of his original artwork and provide a unique and creative vision of the city's changing landscape. Currently there are over sixty postcards (and notecards). Several of the postcards were first reproduced as posters and a set of these can be found in the Special Collection's Maps and Posters Collection.

The most recent donation to the PPB is a set of postcards from the Heritage Postcards/Tours. This set of twenty-fours cards depict African American life in Baltimore from the Colonial period through the twentieth century.

All contributions are welcome. It does not matter if you are giving one card or 1,000. For more information on how to make a donation to the collection please contact Tom Hollowak, Head of Special Collections.