Vignette
The graffiti, penciled on chestnut paneling inside the trim
brick building near the Homewood
Museum, won't win any awards for style or originality.
The language is coarse. The drawings, mostly female body
parts, are not artfully done.
But the graffiti has history. One hundred years ago it was
applied to the interior walls of the original privy on the
19th-century country estate of Charles Carroll Jr., whose
home is now part of the Homewood campus. The authors were
students from the Country School for Boys (now the Gilman
School), back when it held classes at Homewood.
Time has taken its toll on the privy. It needs renovations
that will cost about $75,000. Earlier this year, Vernon
Wright of the Homewood Advisory Council pledged a $25,000
challenge grant on behalf of the Charles Carroll of
Carrollton Foundation to pay for the work. An earlier
$10,000 grant came from proceeds of the 2006 Maryland House
and Garden Pilgrimage.
Why is an old outhouse worth saving? Because it helps
people understand the historical context of the country
house and gives us a glimpse of everyday life, says
Catherine Rogers Arthur, curator of Homewood Museum. "It's
rare to have an early 19th-century privy still standing,"
she says. "It's even rarer to have an early 19th-century
privy with its 100-year-old graffiti."
And what does the graffiti, which will also be preserved,
tell visitors to Homewood Museum? That's easy, says Rogers:
"It's a timeless reminder of the human condition. The boys
are so bad." — Maria Blackburn