The Woman's Industrial Exchange, at 333 North Charles Street, was founded in 1880 with the mission to give women - Civil War widows in particular - the opportunity to earn income through selling handicrafts. While the gift shop is still in operation, the lunch room has fallen on hard times. It stopped serving Baltimore's Best chicken salad and tomato aspic in 2002; after a renovation, it reopened in 2003 under an outside operator. Since then, it has been re-opened and re-closed by a couple of other operators, none of whom were able to attract the diners who were looking for the genteel atmosphere of the past.
Now, Souper Freak food truck operator Irene Smith is planning to re-open the restaurant as the Woman's Industrial Kitchen, serving old favorites like that chicken salad and tomato aspic. But she can't do it without our help. If you can afford to make a donation toward the cause, please check out Irene's Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1597828317/be-a-part-of-restoring-womens-history-in-maryland
I gotta say that this project is near and dear to me. In the early-to-mid-90s, I worked downstairs at 333 North Charles Street and would regularly sneak upstairs to buy a cupcake from the gift shop. And every once in a while, I'd have the pleasure of eating lunch with my friend Marshall's elegant mother Betty, a woman who was very dear to me. I was even on the Board at the Exchange for a while. I'd love to be able to relive a little bit of my past.
Can you help?
Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.
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