The Sound and the Fury
Category: Snapshot
photography: JJ Chrystal
When you spend time on the University of Baltimore campus, you get used to the sounds of the city, but nothing could prepare this community for the thunderous claps that generated electric excitement and a contagious case of ear covering and neck craning throughout Baltimore.
The U.S. Navy’s legendary Blue Angels made several appearances in UB airspace in preparation for their show during Baltimore’s Star-Spangled Sailabration, June 13-19, honoring the bicentennial of the War of 1812 with England. (It was during this war, although in 1814, that Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner” following the all-night British bombardment of Fort McHenry.)
While this summer’s Sailabration featured tall ships, parachutists, concerts and more and brought an estimated million visitors and military personnel from around the world to the Inner Harbor, UB enjoyed a show of its own as the Blue Angels shrieked across the midtown skies in formation (shown here to the right of the new John and Frances Angelos Law Center) during practice routines—free entertainment that many on campus quipped they’d ordered up especially for UB.