ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – Registration is now open for the Historic St. Mary’s City Adults Only tour, titled “Sin and Scandal.” The tour will take place on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24, 2023, with two tours offered each night 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The program is available only for visitors aged 18 and older.
“Sin and Scandal” features a series of vignettes and stories that are all based on court records of 17th-century Maryland. The tour features frank talk of sexuality, infidelity, and hot-button topics, all taken directly from documented cases of the time. At the center of the tour is a relationship that hardly seems sinful at all: a pair of young lovers determined to spend their lives together no matter the cost.
In 2019, “Sin and Scandal” won a Maryland Preservation Award for Excellence in Public Programming from the Maryland Historical Trust. The tour was also honored with a 2020 Leadership in History award from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH). The AASLH Leadership in History Award is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
The Adults Only tours will be rain or shine and are registration only. Payment in full is due at the time of registration. The cost for the after hours program is $20 per person ($15 for HSMC members). For more information or to register, contact (301) 994-4371, (301) 994-4372, or hsmcc.groups@maryland.gov.
About Historic St. Mary’s City
Historic St. Mary’s City, a National Historic Landmark, is a uniquely well-preserved archaeological record of more than 10,000 years of human occupation – including archaeological artifacts left by native peoples and European colonists. Today, the site is home to a living history museum that engages both students and the general public through educational programs in novel and exciting ways, encouraging people of all ages to connect the past with their contemporary lives.
Given the Puritan culture of that day, why focus a theme on that small and obscure aspect of that time? Strange, because it seems like agricultural struggles, relations between natives and colonists as well as challenges to the environment would be of much more value. Why would the organization select these type of themed events, and not promote more significant and realistic events based on records instead of the obscure ones?
– The History Major