A Visit to the Johns Hopkins University Library

I had the pleasure of spending more time with Professor Van Morgan. She knows incredible amounts of facts about Johns and his family. This time we visited the Johns Hopkins University Library. We examined the Hopkins family collection of items that can be found there.

We looked at the family Bible that belonged to Hanna (johns' Mother) She recorded the births and deaths of her 11 children in this book. There is a lock of hair which is believed to be Hannah's that was added upon her death.

Johns' cousin Elizabeth was the love of his life. However, they were not allowed to marry. Elizabeth's father and the Quakers were against first cousin marriages. One of Elizabeth's journals is included in the family collections. Ladies of the time often kept journals where they wrote many things and often copied favorite poems into the journal. Below are the journal and two pages actually written by Johns.

The library books are the first collection of books that the university had. Some of them belonged to Johns.

The Baltimore newspapers and the Alumni Magazine wrote many articles about Johns. A few are included below. One is about Whites Hall and another is about the roadside marker that was installed and dedicated to his birthplace. The article about the found statue is a true story. The statue can be found in the other library building. Next time I'm there, I'll get a picture.

More to come in the next blog...........