Brushes with History

Heritage Frederick Exhibit Celebrates Centuries of Local Art and Artists

By Guy Fletcher

Photography By Turner Photography Studio

Beyond Frederick’s art circles, Florence Doub might not be so well known.

She should be.

Born in 1851, Doub was a pioneer in many ways, including her education in art at the Frederick Female Seminary in Downtown Frederick’s Winchester Hall. “The seminary was the first place where women could receive a formal education in art,” explains Jody Brumage, archivist with Heritage Frederick, formerly known as the Historical Society of Frederick County.

In 1893, Doub began a 27-year tenure as head of the art department at the new Woman’s College of Frederick, also in Winchester Hall and later to become Hood College. “Miss Floy” also taught at the Maryland School for the Deaf for 51 years, gave private instruction at her own studio and in 1897 was one of the founding members of the Frederick Art Club, which still exists today.

Starting this month, many of Doub’s works will be on display at Heritage’s Frederick’s Museum of Frederick County History as part of its newest exhibit, “Brushes with History: Inspiring the Personality of Frederick.” Occupying much of the first floor of Heritage Frederick’s historic mansion at 24 E. Church St., the exhibit features work from artists both well known—like Helen Smith, Virginia McLaughlin and Barry Richardson—and those often pushed to the back of history books, like Doub. There are paintings of church spires, farms, mountains, cityscapes and people, as well as decorated household items like chairs, vases and dishware. 

Items in “Brushes with History” come from Heritage Frederick’s collection, as well as works loaned from others.

“This is the first time a lot of these works have been displayed in one place,” Brumage says.

Planning for the exhibit began more than a year ago, with Heritage Frederick staff spending much of 2023 culling through their own art collection and seeking works on loan from other organizations and private collectors. A social media request led to a local resident loaning the sign to Smith’s Downtown art shop. Hood, where Smith taught, was also a key partner in providing items for the exhibit.

 Smith was such an icon of Frederick County’s art history—with private works and public commissions that covered most of the 20th century—that an entire “Brushes with History” room is dedicated to her drawings and paintings in various formats, from newspaper and commercial art to lampshades, plates and clock faces. “This whole gallery is going to be filled with Helen,” Brumage says during a tour weeks before the opening.

Completing the exhibit is a “legacy room,” dedicated to the more-recent artists of the latter 20th and early 21st centuries, says Amy L. Metzger Hunt, curator with Heritage Frederick

An entire room in the exhibit is dedicated to the life and works of Helen Smith, perhaps Frederick’s most famous artist.

Here, visitors can see Richardson’s famous outdoor scenes, one of McLaughlin’s trademark murals and works from their contemporaries. Also featured are sketches from world-renown fashion designer Claire McCardell.

“These are the more-modern artists who took the legacy that was created by Florence [Doub] and Helen and ran with it,” Hunt says.

“Brushes with History” will remain on display at Heritage Frederick throughout this year. Museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.