During the Assistantship at Baltimore Heritage, Sally Gordon analyzed the Behind the Scenes Tour program, in addition to researching and creating a Baltimore City Heritage House plaque program. To evaluate the Behind the Scenes Tours, she used Baltimore Heritage’s tour records from 2006 and 2007 to determine the number of people who took the tours and financial income from each year. In addition, an email survey was sent out to the list of tour attendees to receive their feedback about past tours. Attendees were also asked what they would want to see in the future, such as Baltimore sites or tours in other cities. To create the Baltimore City Heritage House plaque program, she researched similar programs and emailed organizations and plaque programs with questions.
At the end of the assistantship, Ms. Gordon had two complete products: an analysis of the Behind the Scenes Tour and a proposal and application for the Baltimore City Heritage House Program. The analysis was beneficial to Baltimore Heritage because it allowed the organization to see that the tours did improve over the two years studied because more tours were offered in 2007. The increase in participants generated more money in 2007, as well as an increase in membership contributions from tour takers. The survey results show satisfaction with the tours, and is an important instrument that Baltimore Heritage can use annually to see how tour attendees feel about the program. The Baltimore City Heritage House Program is one in which Baltimore Heritage has been interested, but has not been able to thoroughly research and develop a proposal. The program awards plaques to families who have lived in the same house for at least 100 years. This helps Baltimore Heritage commemorate those who are not often recognized for their preservation efforts and to further educate the public of Baltimore’s history.
In the words of Sally Gordon,
"The Assistantship at Baltimore Heritage makes me want to continue in historic preservation, because it made me see how important it is to have people who are passionate about the field, working to advocate for the preservation of historic structures. Many people do not see the benefits of saving an old and out-of-date building, and there needs to be advocacy and education about these historic places. Working at Baltimore Heritage allowed me to learn from Johns, who is a terrific resource on Baltimore, about the fantastic history and architecture of this city, which makes preservation all the more important. Johns was kind enough to take me along with him to his day-to-day activities – a meeting with Senator Jones in Annapolis, his board meeting, a trip to the Scottish Rite Temple, a tax credit class, a CHAP hearing, a talk about African American Baltimore sites, and various walks and drives around the city. Being in a small non-profit for a month gave me a taste of how it operates, and how heavily it relies on membership contributions or income from programs like the Behind the Scenes Tours. But I also saw how there were many supporters of preservation (over 75 responses to the February Behind the Scenes Tour), and that one day is not like the next. While I still have time to figure out what I want to do with my life, I think that I want to do something similar to what Johns does – being knowledgeable about Baltimore and advocating for the preservation of historic places, while educating the public along the way."
Sites along the Baltimore Heritage Behind the Scenes Tour.
