Baltimore museum reunites chairs of Maryland Declaration signers
Four chairs tied to Maryland’s Declaration signers were shown together in Baltimore for the first time, alongside rare prints and Mary Katharine Goddard’s groundbreaking broadside.
The Maryland Center for History and Culture reunited chairs belonging to all four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence on its second floor, giving Baltimore visitors a rare look at objects tied directly to Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, William Paca and Thomas Stone. The chairs were displayed together for the first time as part of the museum’s America 250 programming, branded “We Are Revolutionary.”
Three of the chairs had been in the museum’s collection for decades, while Thomas Stone’s chair had only recently arrived through a donation. Chief Curator Catherine Arthur said the goal was to bring the chairs together ahead of the nation’s 250th commemoration and to tell a fuller story about the men behind them. The display was built to do more than present furniture as relics. It placed the chairs in conversation with portraits, biographies, imagery and other Revolutionary-era artifacts tied to Maryland’s four signers.
The exhibit also widened the focus to Mary Katharine Goddard, whose Baltimore press produced the first copy of the Declaration of Independence to include the names of the signers. The National Park Service says Goddard printed that broadside in Baltimore on January 18, 1777, and notes that only nine known Goddard broadsides survive. Beginning in June 2026, visitors to the Maryland Center for History and Culture could also see Goddard’s Declaration in a newly installed case in the Library Alcove, underscoring that the document was not just a symbol but a printed object that had to be reproduced and circulated.
The timing connects the museum to Maryland’s broader America 250 push. The Maryland 250 Commission is coordinating statewide programming ahead of July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and Baltimore heritage groups including Sail 250 have been promoting related events. For families, teachers and summer programs, the MCHC display offers a concrete way to connect classroom lessons to local history: the city’s role in the founding era can be seen in the chairs, the print, and the faces of the people who helped shape the nation.
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