Oldest Holiday

Defenders' Day . . . Baltimore's Oldest Holiday

Join us for the 191st annual commemoration of Baltimore's Oldest Holiday!

You can be part of the revival of this great tradition.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, September 9, 10 & 11, 2005

Defenders' Day commemorates the successful defense of Baltimore from British attack and the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Although an annual event since 1814, the form of celebration has changed over the years.

Within a year of the battle, work was begun on Baltimore’s Battle Monument at the corner of Calvert and Fayette streets. Designed by Maximillian Godefroy in the neo-classical style, the Battle Monument commemorates not one individual hero, but all of the citizen soldiers who as a whole saved the town.

During the early years, the focus was on the Battle of North Point, where Maryland Militia troops slowed the British advance on the city on September 12, 1814. Picnics on the battleground and a parade of veterans who participated in the engagement were the hallmarks of the celebration.

During the later Nineteenth Century, Defenders' Day celebrations became a citywide event and grew more elaborate. Businesses in Baltimore shut down as residents attended parades, large fireworks displays, and a huge mock bombardment of Fort McHenry with U.S. warships portraying the British "fleet."

Defenders' Day - September 12, was made a state holiday by the Maryland Legislature in 1908. The Centennial celebration held in 1914 marked the largest program ever with a week's worth of activities culminating in a mass singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by 50,000 people.

Interest in the holiday waned after 1914. The Great Depression of the 1930s forced the program to be scaled back. Larger celebrations marking the end of World War II overshadowed Defenders' Day, and anti-military sentiment during the Vietnam era further eroded the holiday's popularity.

Interest in Defenders' Day has grown in recent years. The Baltimore "renaissance" of the 1980's evidenced by the refurbishment of the Inner Harbor and other neighborhoods has reawakended a feeling of community and an interest in civic and public celebrations. Likewise, a renewed patriotic feeling since the 1990's has contributed to an ever greater awareness and a growing attendance of this annual event.

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine has taken the lead in the revival of this once popular celebration. Our Living History volunteers literally put the "defenders" back into Defenders' Day.

Annually, the bombardment is ceremonially recreated in a stunning fireworks display.

And the evening is celebrated with patriotic music, military displays, and stirring speeches.

Society of the War of 1812 ceremony on Armistead Plaza.

Baltimore Mayor O'Malley, Superintendent Joss and Maryland Governor Ehrlich attend the evening program.

Don't turn your back on Baltimore's proud history!

Plan on coming to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine on September 9-11, 2005 to celebrate this important holiday!