The Mary Edwardine Bourke Emory Foundation, Inc., led by Queen Anne’s County historian, Mary Margaret Revell Goodwin, is currently restoring the ca. 1760 Bloomfield Manor to be the first home of the Maryland Museum of Women’s History.
The Maryland Museum of Women’s History is the proposed reuse of the Bloomfield Manor on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in Queen Anne’s County. The home was once in the hands of Mary Edwardine Bourke, who received it from her father just before the Civil War but during tough times, Bourke was forced to sell it. In order to raise the funds needed to buy-back her beloved home, Bourke penned a detailed history of the Eastern Shore in 1900, selling it for $2.50 anywhere that she could. Her efforts were a success. Bourke regained ownership of Bloomfield Manor and was able to return to it for some time before her passing.
After Bourke’s death, the property changed hands and endured significant alterations before ultimately coming under the control of the Queen Anne’s County government. The Mary Edwardine Bourke Emory Foundation has been restoring the property for use as the Maryland Museum of Women’s History with an anticipated opening date of August 2020. Their timing purposefully and coincides with the 100th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment that enfranchised American women with the right to vote. Prior to their scheduled opening, the Museum has released an online exhibit focused on Anna Ella Carroll.