Cart is empty Shellman House, What’s New?
Where the Servant’s Stairs Lead
In 2025, the Historical Society of Carroll County opened its new bedroom exhibit Mary Shellman: Civil War to Suffrage in the Sherman-Fisher-Shellman House. The exhibit was generously funded through a grant from the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area. Starting in the fall of 2026, HSCC sets its sights on a new abitious initiative; Where the Servant’s Stairs Lead.
The Society’s next phase of interpretation at the Shellman House will reimagine 5 spaces, long-forgotten, that tell the stories of boarders, enslaved individuals, domestic servants, and forgotten visitors. These spaces will be transformed into interpretive environments that explore domestic work, family life, and social change in Carroll County in the 19th and 20th centuries. Building on the successful interpretation of the Mary Shellman Bedroom, the project will focus on individuals whose lives unfolded in unglamorous and forgotten spaces. Individuals like Mary Key, Lizzie, Tyson, the Shellman family’s cook, and children and extended family members who lived or boarded in the house will be remembered. For example, Key was born enslaved but freed upon her 18th birthday. She chose to remain in the world she knew as a nanny to her former enslaver’s family and lived and died in the same room where she was born.
Naming opportunities are now available for this exciting initiative and can be viewed here.
Help continue our interpretive expansion on the second floor of the Shellman House by giving to our Campaign Shellman Tour Expansion Fund.
Helen A. Gorman Library of Carroll County History at Cockey’s
The Society’s library and manuscripts are being moved from the Shriver-Weybright Auditorium in Kimmey to Cockey’s Tavern next door. During the Society’s Annual Meeting in October 2025, HSCC Executive Director Jason Illari and long-time HSCC member and supporter Meg Herring announced the naming of the Helen A. Gorman Library of Carroll County History at Cockey’s. Herring’s transformative gift in honor of her mother, who was a stalwart supporter of the Society and its library for decades, will ensure the new library reopens on May 8 2026. Ongoing support for the Campaign Library Move Fund is greatly appreciated!
Walkways and Accessibility Upgrades
The Society has started accessibility improvements of HSCC campus walkways, entrances, and its parking lot to enhance the visitor experience for patrons and school group tours. An outpouring of Gift for the Cause support at the 2024 Gala resulted in $75,600 in seed monies raised for this work, which was matched dollar for dollar from the generous 2023 Shipley family and Bare family bequests. Additional funds are required to complete the project. You can help complete these crucial improvements by selecting the Campaign Accessibility Fund.
Naganna Exhibits Hall & History Learning Center and Shriver-Weybright Auditorium
HSCC is thrilled to announce that work is commencing on the Society’s new programs and exhibit space thanks to the generosity of Dr. Vimala Naganna. The Naganna Exhibits Hall and History Learning Center will open in July 2026, in the original Shriver-Weybright Auditorium, first dedicated in 1968. The generosity of these Carroll County families will ensure that HSCC educational programs and exhibits thrive in the coming years. A Semiquincentennial (America 250) exhibit is planned. Donors interested in financially supporting the 250 community exhibit may do so by contributing to the Acquisitions and Exhibits Fun