The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins: The Life and Legacy that Shaped an American City

by Antero Pietila

Johns Hopkins destroyed his private papers so thoroughly that no credible biography exists of the Baltimore Quaker titan. One of America's richest men and the largest single shareholder of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Hopkins was also one of the city's defining developers. In The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins, Antero Pietila weaves together a biography of the man with a portrait of how the institutions he founded have shaped the racial legacy of an industrial city from its heyday to its decline and revitalization. From the destruction of neighborhoods to make way for the mercantile buildings that dominated Baltimore's downtown through much of the 19th century to the role that the president of Johns Hopkins University played in government sponsored "Negro Removal" that unleashed the migration patterns that created Baltimore's existing racial patchwork, Pietila tells the story of how one man's wealth shaped and reshaped the life of a city long after his lifetime.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medicine, Biography

336 pages, Hardcover

Published November 2, 2018

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this book because I loved Pietila's previous book Not in My Neighborhood so much. I was really excited to read this, but found it very wanting. He purports to write about how the institutions founded by Johns Hopkins affected Baltimore and its racial history. I did learn a fair amount about Johns Hopkins the man, which was interesting, but then he veers far and wide from the story he supposedly set out to tell. It really just winds up being a retread of what he wrote about in Not My Neighborhood and I feel like he completely loses the connection to Hopkins, which is a shame because there is certainly a lot to say there I just don't really think he did in an effective way. He got too far off on tangents about anything and everything that happened in the city's history. He really lost me at the end where he writes about a recent Baltimore police officer death that was indeed super shady and has a lot of questions surrounding it that haven't been and probably never will be answered to everyone's satisfaction. He spins some wild conspiracy theories that are even beyond most of the stuff I was reading at the time and he presents them as fact. Not cool. Especially for someone who is a former journalist. He should know way better.

[Kevin Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are the kind of pedant who, when walking around Baltimore, will point out who the streets are named after or what this neighborhood used to be, this is THE book for you. If you have a passing interest in John’s Hopkins University, this is not for you. It seems like Piettila tried to write a book about Johns Hopkins, realized it wasn't really working, then just wrote a summary of his reporting for the past 50 years, making loose connections to Hopkins’ legacy the whole time. It is a fantastic compendium of Baltimore knowledge, but if you don’t really care deeply about the city, I imagine it would be hard to follow as there is not real narrative through line for the book.
It’s engaging for a survey history, though it’s a little under edited in my opinion. There are very strange sprinkles of editorial creativity throughout, like at one point when Pietilla says that an African American politician moved to mainstream politics after he got his “hood cred.” It seems after his amazing first book and years of reporting, the editors trusted the old man a little too much with this one.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

What did I just slog through? I don't even know where to begin: It feels like Pietila promised someone he was going to write a book on Hopkins, and then a deadline came and he had to submit some loosely compiled notes. Or, lacking detail on Hopkins, he just did a keyword search for Hopkins and included whatever showed in results? I so much disliked this book that I started a list of problems in a Google doc -- there was just so much irresponsible writing! For example, calling Hopkins "a farm boy" (p.22) grossly mischaracterizes Johns Hopkins who grew up on a plantation with access to family wealth (he got $10k each from his mother and two uncles when he wanted to try out a grocery store business, p. 7); writing about women in general -- on p. 6 Pietila describes Hopkins relationship with his child cousin as "he saw her blossom from a child to a young maiden," which, since we know Hopkins burned his own papers, seems to be the author's gross assessment? Pietila also refers to a slave-owner as "fornicating" with his enslaved women, when I'm sure he means to say rape. He also notes in a section about female fundraisers that they were at the time referred to by their husbands' names (e.g. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison), but then perpetuates the erasure of women in history by not actually giving us their real names! My rants while reading eventually turned into confusion because there seemed to be no organization. Pietila jumps around in topic, dates, and locations, sometimes all within the same chapter. Some sections don't even mention Johns Hopkins institutions, or do in passing such as one person tangential to the story happened to work there. There were some interesting stories around the development of Baltimore, but a lot of it was buried or thrown in without any coherent thread to the rest of the book. There's no thesis that I could find, and felt instead like an expository list of facts, musings, and later, personal anecdotes. I hear his other book, Not in My Neighborhood, is much better, but I'm wary to read any more of his work.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. As a current Johns Hopkins graduate student, I spent two weeks in 2018 traveling around Baltimore getting to know its history and its people. I learned so much as a student and I was thrilled to grab an advanced copy of this book in hopes of learning a bit more about the city and the history of the university that calls Baltimore home. Alas, it was not to be.

It's difficult to write a book about a man who destroyed all of his papers and correspondence. I get that. However, Antero Pietila tries to cover a Johns Hopkins the man, Johns Hopkins the University, and Johns Hopkins as the city of Baltimore. It's just too great a swath of time and place to discuss well. Rather than a succinct history of a person, place, or time, Pietila has left us with a rambling narrative that only briefly touches on Johns Hopkins the man but also highlights struggles in funding a university, Civil War strife, grave robbing, building various railroads, race riots, mobs, and more. It's incredibly difficult to follow as time jumps from the 1700s to the 1920s to the 1850s and back again. I often wasn't sure who was being profiled or what century I was even in anymore.

While there are some really interesting bits of information (the part on Arabbers and the history of rent-to-own homes were fascinating) the book is just so difficult to follow and tedious to read that I quickly lost interest. For those who have an intimate knowledge of Baltimore, very little in the book will be a revelation. Most importantly, this book isn't really about Johns Hopkins at all but an overarching view of the history of the university with a greater focus on the city of Baltimore.

It's not often that I don't finish a book, particularly an advanced copy, but this one is going to sit on the "to finish" shelf for a bit longer.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Rowan and Littlefield and Netgalley for sharing this advanced copy of The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins. I found it fascinating and plan on recommending to some friends who live in Baltimore. Since I don’t live too far away, I’ve visited Baltimore enough, including multiple visits to Johns Hopkins hospital over the years, to be familiar with the bigger streets and neighborhoods. That made the book so much more engrossing to me. I also found that I had to keep Google maps near by because I was so curious about the locations. Overall, I think Mr. Pietila did a masterful job of research and synthesizing disparate histories that all eventually congealed into today’s Charm City (for better or worse, I’ll leave to your own reading). It’s not an uplifting tale, but educational and eye-opening. Recommended for those with an interest in Baltimore, Maryland, or urban histories.

[Aviva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pietila was able to tell a story about Johns Hopkins who (apparently?) has very little material information remaining while seeming to be politically, historically, and factually correct. Although I would not categorize this as a "quick read," his ability to pack each sentence with information and history was still compelling. I personally really enjoyed the first half of the book and the maps that were throughout the book that illustrated migration patterns and racial divides. I learned a lot about Baltimore but sometimes I felt the information about Johns Hopkins became the back story and rushed to current day events that was the focus on the latter half of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone that lives in Baltimore and/or is familiar with Baltimore history. It was fascinating to learn about the key players throughout time through Pietila's narrative.

[Forest Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clunky read but very well researched. An incredibly eye opening and heartbreaking reveal of the racial and political history of Baltimore.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw this book, I knew immediately that I wanted to read it. As a teenager, I spent a whole summer traveling an hour each way with my mom to visit my dad at the Johns Hopkins Hospital after he suffered a brain aneurysm. Fortunately, they saved his life and he lived to be 87 years old!

I enjoyed the first half of the book the most. It was amazing how much Baltimore history that I never knew! Where was all this history when I was growing up? Having read the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I was pleased that the author added her story. The story about grave robbers was surprising but guess it was typical of the times.

I really enjoyed reading this book but one thing I wish the author would have went into was his comment about Russians causing the riots of 2015. I had not heard that before.

The author wrote a book that I won't soon forget. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Johns Hopkins and Baltimore, past and present.

* I was provided an ARC to read from the publisher and NetGalley. It was my decision to read and review this book..

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another important book about the history of Baltimore by Pietila. You'll learn history through the life and wealth of Johns Hopkins and related key players.

Buckle up for a chapter on cadavers.

[Frederick Buettner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghost of Johns Hopkins - The Life and Legacy that Shaped an American City
Anterio Pietilia
Read, July, 2020 Hardback,
Johns Hopkins destroyed his private papers so thoroughly that no credible biography exists of the Baltimore Quaker titan. One of America’s richest men and the largest single shareholder of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Hopkins was also one of the city’s defining developers. In The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins, Antero Pietila weaves together a biography of the man with a portrait of how the institutions he founded have shaped the racial legacy of an industrial city from its heyday to its decline and revitalization. From the destruction of neighborhoods to make way for the mercantile buildings that dominated Baltimore’s downtown through much of the 19th century to the role that the president of Johns Hopkins University played in government sponsored “Negro Removal” that unleashed the migration patterns that created Baltimore’s existing racial patchwork, Pietila tells the story of how one man’s wealth shaped and reshaped the life of a city long after his lifetime. (AMAZON)
I found the book both enjoyable and entertaining. I have lived in Baltimore my entire life and the history is quite interesting. Especially, the history behind the racial segregation this is a legacy of the era that is pointed out out over and over in the book.I also thought it was intriguing to realize that Baltimore women were in the forefront, albeit under the radar, in raising up women that were certainly second class citizens in the nineteenth century. I loved reading about the modern era to realize that the problems that we see today in the political structures were created long before the present era. Pietila paints a picture that is disturbing in its depiction of Baltimore as a rough city that treats its most vulnerable citizens in a less than kindle manner. His previous book, Not in My Neighborhood, was also a depiction of Baltimore and its legacy of racial segregation. I look forward to Mr.Pietelio’s future books on the history of Baltimore...

[Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are glimmers of important gems of knowledge throughout the book, Pietila leaves us in the dark for resolution to some stories without explanation. Some readers might find his use of antiquated language that, while the vernacular of the eras he is detailing, are rough on modern ears. At times, I could not tell whether the author's views were being represented or those of the people he was describing in history, and this sort of uncertainty is tiring for me when I'm trying to extract a more objective truth from a historical account. On that note, I commend Pietila's use of direct quotation frequently, as that clears up who's view is being projected into an account.

As a reader with a specific interest in medical history, I found the first and third parts of the book most helpful for understanding the history of Johns Hopkins University and Hospital. Again, there were some accounts that fail to reach a proper resolution, and perhaps this is due to the author recognizing that a more thorough account of as important a topic as gender affirmation would require much more than the few pages it was allocated in Part II. I was at times frustrated by the lengthy detours into mobsters and corruption that were difficult to directly translate to the titular institution. This history deserves a title that is less evocative of a Hopkins history and more suggestive of that man's influence in 19th century Baltimore and the problems with corruption that pervaded politics, business and society then and now.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rewarding, if disheartening, read, if you are willing to stay with some murky writing. Mr. Pietal, a native of Finland, was a beat reporter with the Baltimore Sun for a number of years and was interested in the influences and decisions of over the years that contributed to Baltimore's fraught situation of today. The title is a bit misleading. Johns Hopkins' life is swiftly dealt with, in part because there is so little documentation of his personal life. But the decisions of the institutions he founded and the civic leaders who followed him are scrutinized for their destructive forces. For example, one understands more fully the distrust of the local community of the hospital that was founded to provide service to the urban poor. It goes way back beyond Henrietta Lacks. Particularly offensive are the housing decisions that enforced segregation and virtually guaranteed a Black underclass entrapped in a system that is stubbornly resistant to improvement. The continuing corruption of civic leaders and the origins of the the arrogant culture of local law enforcement are examined. Although not all of this can be traced back to Mr. Hopkins, key decisions by civic leaders had long lasting impact and contributed to the sad decline of this great city .

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work attempts to look at the life and legacy of John Hopkins, the man and then the medical institution. The man is somewhat of a hard nut to crack in that Hopkins destroyed or did not leave much in the way of direct correspondence. Much of what the author writes about him comes from other sources and accounts. He was a complex man, who both argued for the end of slavery and the keeping of the racial status quo. The big thing with Hopkins was the making and use of his wealth.

Yet, the biggest legacy involves the hospital and medical system that bears his name. From there, the author attempts to spin the long and storied history of Baltimore, especially its segregationist past back to his legacy. It is hear where it gets a bit messy and discombobulated. Sure, the history and writing by themselves are solid, but at times, especially in the middle of the book, the connection to Hopkins gets lost or is hardly mentioned at all, making a reader wonder just why all of this is in the book. It could be streamlined a bit and not lose any of its potency. Still, good history, even if the overall organization leaves a lot to be desired.

[Arathi Samuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was interested to read about this book especially in light of recent protests. However, there was nothing new introduced (at least to me, who has read a few books about Johns Hopkins and the history of Baltimore) neither by the way of facts nor insights. By the end of the book, the connection to Johns Hopkins was tenuous at best. Too many subjects are covered over too small a space. He jumps from fact to fact; one paragraph describes James Marion Sims' work with black slaves while the next skims over Nazi doctors' atrocities. His wholly inadequate description of Dr. Josef Mengele is merely that he 'oversaw the separation of inmates.' The last chapters delve into the death of Detective Sean Suiter, whose death and connection with Johns Hopkins I am hard pressed to find.

Moreover, the editorializing was inappropriate and incomplete. Connections were made to Donald Trump but there was no context to the criticism. "Could Arab notables in flowing robes still come for treatment in Baltimore...?" WHAT? Flowing robes? Could you perpetuate a stereotype more???

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I live in Baltimore and thus know a fair amount about the good and bad reputation that Johns Hopkins has here. However, I didn't know much about the namesake, Johns Hopkins, or how the the Hopkins system came to be. I thoroughly enjoyed the first third of the book, which focused on the man, Johns Hopkins and the early history of Baltimore city. After that third, the book becomes much less focused and more a history of the city that is sometimes directly related to Hopkins but more often than not, only loosely related to Hopkins. My issue is not the research or story told, it's that the book becomes very unfocused as it goes on. Even individual chapters loose their focus. For example, one chapter started with the history of the moniker, "Mobtown" and ends with gender reassignment surgery.

Overall, this was a nice history of Baltimore city, but not a great book about the impact of Johns Hopkins.

[Pat O · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cool read for me because I learned so much and I am a history dork who loves Baltimore. It starts out as a biography of Johns Hopkins himself and then evolves into a history of the politics and influence of the institution in Baltimore. Some of the later material is only loosely connected to JHU but it is still interesting to learn about all the politicians and other characters in Baltimore who got us to where we are today.

My biggest problem with the book is that the author throws out a huge whopper about the Russians being responsible for the unrest in 2015 and offers no citations or proof of the claim. Everything else is so meticulously researched and cited with links and notes, so it was kind of nuts to throw that out there. Aside from that, great read!

[Janelle Mummey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished Antero Pietila’s latest book, “The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins”. I liked the historical portion best, because the more modern problems of Baltimore seem so close and so incredibly discouraging. I have a tremendous feeling of sadness/disgust reading about blatant discrimination that took place and the residual effects still taking place today. I think his books are a must read for people wanting to understand Baltimore, but more highly recommend the first, “Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City.” Reading these makes me so grateful for my friends and colleagues who never give up on the City and work hard to improve it and the lives of its residents - even though it is a monumental task.

[Stacey Marriott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly, this was a painful read that I started to dread more than going to the dentist. The writing was disjointed and at times unclear. The writing style was similarly disjointed with Not In My Neighborhood but the content of that book was focused, at least. This book was all over the place. In any given chapter, he'd write about people/events that could've been 100 years apart yet makes it hard for the reader to follow which time period that particular paragraph is about. There are paragraphs that read like they were grabbed from a box of random material and plopped into the book.

Living and working in Baltimore I was so excited to read this book, as were other people I know. Now, I pretty much want to toss it on the burn pile and cannot recommend it at all.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rambling historic travelogue of Baltimore - Pietila tries to keep it all tied to Johns Hopkins and his legacy, but it feels like he has too many stories to tell, so there is a lot of meandering from the central theme. If you need a well structured, analytical, tightly organized book, you will not enjoy this so much, but if you are curious about Baltimore's history and how it go to where it is, you will enjoy Pietila's guided journey.
He covers a lot of territory, from Johns Hopkins through the origins of Baltimore's racial zoning through Mayor D'Alesandro (Nancy Pelosi's dad) through the inner harbor redevelopment to today.
A lot of insights into what made Baltimore what it is today.

[Briayna Cuffie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The layout wssnt exactly how I anticipated, but I got so much out of it. I got many recommendations for other books and authors, and policies to look into. I think people forget that racism plays a huge role in the economy, and that pretty much everyone and everything had more value than people of color; Hopkins and his peers being responsible for a lot of the development of the city, means they are also responsible for putting profit before people.

As locstions are discussed, their current names are also identified, which is helpful for those who don't have a multigenerational view of thr city.

[Mindi Lutwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working at Johns Hopkins for the past 17 years and living in Baltimore most of my life, this book was really interesting to me...He did veer a bit from the Hopkins connection and talked a lot about Baltimore and even other areas, but then came back to it in the end...It's a recommended read for anyone who wants to learn more about local history...

[Melissa Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fascinating. There were times when I was horrified by what I was reading about what doctors did in the name of research and the ethics of doing the thing. I didn't know that the doctor with the botched circumcision story actually worked at John's Hopkins. It's infuriating how he never apologized to the twin brothers and it's sad how the story ended.
I highly recommend this book!

[Genevieve Shaffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a difficult read. While there was some great information, this book didn’t feel like there was a consistent timeline. It felt also though the years jumped all over the place, the chapters didnt always stay to the main topic and it felt like the author was really having to try to my the connection between Baltimore’s history and current status to Johns Hopkins.

[Don Akchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard to read more than one chapter at a time, but what insights it sheds on what Baltimore is today and how it got to be that way! It puts a lot of the pieces in place (and it's not always a pretty picture).

[Marissa Chodorow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had me in the first half. The second half seems to have veered away from the Hopkins ties and begins to repeat Not In My Neighborhood. The more recent history becomes disjointed and borderline assuming as well.

[HJK44 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fascinating history. Well written but kind of drags at the end.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who wasn’t born and raised in Baltimore , this book gave me some insight into why Baltimore is the way it is - explains how Baltimore is in the precarious situation it is in as a city

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILLIANCE! Pietila writes with a deep understanding of the city and how decisions made in the earliest days affect it still now.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit slow at times, but an interesting history into Johns Hopkins.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned so much about Baltimore history as well as the founding of Johns Hopkins Hospital and college.