Editing Maryland (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Rubble_of_the_Great_Baltimore_Fire.jpg|thumb|The ruins left by the [[Great Baltimore Fire]] of 1904]]
The [[Progressive Era]] of the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought political reforms. In a series of laws passed between 1892 and 1908, reformers worked for standard state-issued ballots (rather than those distributed and marked by the parties); obtained closed voting booths to prevent party workers from "assisting" voters; initiated [[Partisan primary|primary election]]s to keep party bosses from selecting candidates; and had candidates listed without party symbols, which discouraged the [[illiterate]] from participating. These measures worked against ill-educated whites and blacks. Blacks resisted such efforts, with suffrage groups conducting voter education.
Blacks defeated three efforts to disenfranchise them, making alliances with immigrants to resist various Democratic campaigns.<ref name="tuck"/> Disenfranchisement bills in 1905, 1907, and 1911 were rebuffed, in large part because of black opposition. Blacks comprised 20% of the electorate and immigrants comprised 15%, and the legislature had difficulty devising requirements against blacks that did not also disadvantage immigrants.<ref name="tuck"/>

The Progressive Era also brought reforms in working conditions for Maryland's labor force. In 1902, the state regulated conditions in [[Mining|mines]]; outlawed [[child labor]]ers under the age of 12; mandated compulsory school attendance; and enacted the nation's first [[workers' compensation]] law. The workers' compensation law was overturned in the courts, but was redrafted and finally enacted in 1910.

The [[Great Baltimore Fire]] of 1904 burned for more than 30 hours, destroying 1,526 buildings and spanning 70 city blocks. More than 1,231 [[firefighter]]s worked to bring the blaze under control.

With the nation's [[World War I#Entry of the United States|entry into World War I]] in 1917, new military bases such as [[Fort George G. Meade|Camp Meade]], the [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]], and the [[Edgewood Arsenal]] were established. Existing facilities, including [[Fort McHenry]], were greatly expanded.

After Georgia congressman [[William D. Upshaw]] criticized Maryland openly in 1923 for not passing [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] laws, ''Baltimore Sun'' editor Hamilton Owens coined the "Free State" nickname for Maryland in that context, which was popularized by [[H. L. Mencken]] in a series of newspaper editorials.<ref name=freestate /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/ph-ce-eagle-archive-1008-20121003-story.html |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=October 7, 2012 |first=Kevin |last=Dayhoff |title=Eagle Archive: Here's a toast to Maryland's origins as 'The Free State' |access-date=February 8, 2018 |archive-date=February 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063600/http://www.baltimoresun.com/ph-ce-eagle-archive-1008-20121003-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Maryland's urban and rural communities had different experiences during the [[Great Depression]]. The "[[Bonus Army]]" marched through the state in 1932 on its way to Washington, D.C. Maryland instituted its first [[income tax]] in 1937 to generate revenue for schools and welfare.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&context=mlr
| title = History and Constitutionality of the Maryland Income Tax Law
| last1 = Cairns
| first1 = Huntington
| date = December 1937
| website = Maryland Law Review
| series = Legal History, Theory and Process Commons
| publisher = UM Carey Law
| at = pp. 1, 6
| access-date = August 19, 2015
| quote = "...{{spaces}}1937 Special Session of the Maryland Legislature imposed an income tax{{spaces}}... expenditure of public funds for the benefit of able-bodied persons whose inability to support themselves arises from the prevalence of widespread unemployment."
| archive-date = March 4, 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112451/http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&context=mlr
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

Passenger and freight steamboat service, once important throughout Chesapeake Bay and its many tributary rivers, ended in 1962.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Steamboats of Chesapeake Bay |url=https://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/DocumentCenter/View/2347/-Bugeye-Times-Winter-2017?bidId= |access-date=March 9, 2020 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804222419/http://calvertmarinemuseum.com/DocumentCenter/View/2347/-Bugeye-Times-Winter-2017?bidId= |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Baltimore was a major war production center during [[World War II]]. The biggest operations were [[Bethlehem Steel]]'s Fairfield Yard, which built [[Liberty ship]]s; and [[Glenn L. Martin Company|Glenn Martin]], an aircraft manufacturer.

Maryland experienced population growth following World War II. Beginning in the 1960s, as suburban growth took hold around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, the state began to take on a more mid-Atlantic culture as opposed to the traditionally Southern and Tidewater culture that previously dominated most of the state. Agricultural tracts gave way to residential communities, some of them carefully planned such as [[Columbia, Maryland|Columbia]], [[St. Charles, Maryland|St. Charles]], and [[Montgomery Village, Maryland|Montgomery Village]]. Concurrently the [[Interstate Highway System]] was built throughout the state, most notably [[Interstate 95 in Maryland|I-95]], [[Interstate 695 (Maryland)|I-695]], and the [[Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)|Capital Beltway]], altering travel patterns. In 1952, the eastern and western halves of Maryland were linked for the first time by the [[Chesapeake Bay Bridge]], which replaced a nearby [[ferry]] service.<ref name="baybridge.com-history">{{cite web|url=http://www.baybridge.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=|title=William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bay Bridge—History|publisher=baybridge.com|access-date=February 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080701104741/http://www.baybridge.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=|archive-date=July 1, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Maryland's regions experienced economic changes following WWII. Heavy manufacturing declined in Baltimore. In Maryland's four westernmost counties, industrial, railroad, and coal mining jobs declined. On the lower [[Eastern Shore of Maryland|Eastern Shore]], family farms were bought up by major concerns and large-scale poultry farms and vegetable farming became prevalent. In Southern Maryland, tobacco farming nearly vanished due to suburban development and a state tobacco buy-out program in the 1990s.

In an effort to reverse depopulation due to the loss of working-class industries, Baltimore initiated [[urban renewal]] projects in the 1960s with [[Charles Center]] and the [[Baltimore World Trade Center]]. Some resulted in the break-up of intact residential neighborhoods, producing social volatility, and some older residential areas around the harbor have had units renovated and have become popular with new populations.