Living History Honors
To persons whose lives exemplify the civic value of community involvement and enhancement
The 2025 Honorees
Ron Cassie
Ron Cassie is being honored for his exceptional work in capturing the complex, often overlooked stories of Baltimore with honesty, depth, and heart. As a journalist, editor, teacher, and author, Ron has dedicated his career to telling the truth about this city—its struggles, triumphs, and the people who shape it. Through his work at Baltimore Magazine and elsewhere, he has explored critical issues like environmental justice, racial inequality, and urban development with sharp insight and empathy. His storytelling doesn’t just inform—it connects, challenges, and inspires. Ron’s commitment to journalism that serves the public, holds power accountable, and uplifts local voices has made him a trusted voice and mentor in the field. He teaches not just how to write, but how to care. This tribute recognizes his tireless pursuit of the real Baltimore—raw, resilient, and real—and his deep belief in the power of stories to drive understanding and change.
Fern Shen and Mark Reutter
Fern Shen and Mark Reutter are, respectively, the founder, editor, and publisher of the Baltimore Brew and the Brew’s senior editor and reporter. The Baltimore Brew is an independent daily news website, committed to providing fresh, fair, insightful and reliable reporting about Baltimore in order to bring transparency and accountability to powerful governmental and corporate institutions and to cover issues that matter to all neighborhoods in the city. With their reporting and commentary from people with special expertise and perspectives, the Baltimore Brew has been a fixture in Baltimore since 2010. Prior to working on the Brew, Shen reported for The Baltimore Evening Sun and was a staff writer for The Washington Post, covering Maryland state government and the General Assembly. Reutter has been reporting and writing on Baltimore since 1970, when he started as a summer intern for The Evening Sun. He worked on a wide range of beats for the Sunpapers and undertook an intensive study of blue-collar life and the business history of Baltimore’s Bethlehem Steel, which resulted in the now classic Making Steel: Sparrows Point and the Rise and Ruin of American Industrial Might.
Past Honorees, in alphabetical order
Rafael Alvarez (2021)
Raymond Bahr (2022)
Clinton Bamberger (2011)
Judge Robert Bell (2023)
Willa Bickham and Brendan Walsh (2010)
Hon. Clarence W. Blount (2002)
Maria Broom (2014)
Eddie C. and C. Sylvia Brown (2011)
Frank Burd (2023)
Agnes Callum (2007)
Nathan Carter (2003)
John Ciekot (2018)
Mary Pat Clarke (2017)
Hon. J. Joseph Curran, Jr. (2010)
Frank DeFilippo (2022)
Jed Deitz (2014)
Lew Diuguid (2017)
Judy Dobbs (2018)
Charles B. Duff (2005)
Robert C. Embry, Jr. (2004)
Ethel Llewellyn Ennis (2006)
Lou Fields (2017)
Nicholas and Brigitte Fessenden (2020)
Mike Franch (2019)
Edward Gunts (2002)
Alvin Hathaway (2024)
Grace Hartigan (2004)
Dr. Carla Diane Hayden (2016)
Aaron Henkin (2019)
Sidney Hollander, Jr. (2011)
Johns Hopkins (2020)
Samuel Hopkins (2003)
Kevin (Kal) Kallaugher (2009)
Cardinal William H. Keeler (2008)
Jacques Kelly (2002)
Jeff Korman (2013)
Kathleen Kotarba (2013)
Sister Charmaine Krohe (2011)
Burt Kummerow (2023)
Sam Lacy (2002)
Laura Lippman (2009)
Hon. Julian L. Lapides (2005)
John Maclay (2013)
Dr. Joann Martin (2020)
Jim McKay (2004)
Martin Millspaugh (2008)
Ashley Minner (2021)
Nanette Mitchell (2006)
Camay Murphy (2007)
John C. Murphy (2008)
Martin O'Malley (2015)
Ronald Parks (2014)
Wendel Patrick (2019)
Bill Peneck (2015)
Irving Henry Webster Phillips (2015)
Fred Rasmussen (2002)
Frank Robinson (2005)
Hon. George L. Russell, Jr. (2003)
Hon. Paul S. Sarbanes (2006)
Hon. William Donald Schaefer (2007)
Wayne R. Schaumburg (2010)
David Simon (2004)
Eva Slezak (2009)
RaeLynne Snyder (2017)
Romaine Stec Somerville (2014)
Walter Sondheim, Jr. (2003)
Sandy Sparks (2022)
Marc Steiner (2009)(2018)
Joe Stewart (2022)
Anne Tyler (2004)
Joyce Ward (2012)
Tom Ward (2012)
John Waters (2003)
Rev. William J. Watters S.J. (2012)
Patricia Welch (2013)
William Wells (2023)
Chester Wickwire (2007)
