Tavern Talk at Backwater Books
Schedule
Sun, 26 Apr, 2026 at 03:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Backwater Books, 8156 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD 21043 | Ellicott City, MD
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Join Friends & Foundation of HCLS for Tavern Talks at Backwater Books, a lively event celebrating America250 by exploring how taverns once sparked ideas, debate, and community during the Revolutionary era.Guests will enjoy a tasty charcuterie board appetizers and each ticket includes one alcoholic drink from the Bibliobup.
3:30 pm: Cocktails and Mingle
4-5 pm: Significance of Taverns talk
5-5:30 pm: Tabling by partner organizations Historic Ellicott City, Inc. and the Howard County Historical Society
Presentation: Significance of Taverns in the Colonial Period
Explore taverns as vital sites of social-political activity in the mid-Atlantic during the Revolution, including the roles of Black bartenders and women tavernkeepers, or “Ordinaries,” in shaping public discourse. Talk will include specific revolutionary incidents on the mid-Atlantic seaboard.
Speaker: JP Fetherston is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Maryland who is writing a dissertation about the history of African Americans and social drinking in early American history. Previously, he worked for a decade in Washington, D.C. as a nationally acclaimed bartender at a variety of renowned bars and restaurants. Most notable among them was the Columbia Room, winner of America’s Best Cocktail Bar in 2017. Mutual passions for storytelling and historical research drew him back to higher education to investigate why and how Americans have consumed alcohol in the past.
All proceeds support initiatives at Howard County Library System for you to learn, grow and connect. Grab your tickets now before they sell out!
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Where is it happening?
Backwater Books, 8156 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD 21043, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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