1990 – 2000
The manager of the Exchange in the early 90s was Rita Knox. The lunchroom was like going to your grandmother’s house for a meal. In this time period, the Exchange employed and gave purpose to elderly women of Baltimore. The Exchange was barely making it out of the red each year, so the rent from five upstairs apartments and a ground-floor jeweler helped keep the books in the black. Condradt (Connie) Boyce Whitescarver stated, “The only thing we can’t do is change anything. We’d get letters of protests. We keep it so people can remember Baltimore the way it was.” She was the head of the Exchange’s ten-member board of managers at this time. Her mother held this position and so did her mother’s mother.
Source:
“Preserved in Aspic.” The Baltimore Sun, 9 Nov. 1995.
1993
In 1993, The Exchange appeared in the film “Sleepless in Seattle” starring Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, and Rosie O’Donnell. Waitress Marguerite Schertle played herself. Despite her small role, Marguerite’s cameo has been credited on various websites, and following the success of the film, customers from different states would come into the Exchange asking to meet Miss Marguerite. Many sought to have an autograph signed, but she would often have to decline because she was busy working, and she insisted that she did not want to be known just for her acting career.
Shooting Notice for “Sleepless in Seattle, Source: WIE Archives
1999
On January 4, 1999, the Exchange received the last check needed to push it over its emergency fundraising goal of $150,000. The check was from the Mercantile Fund for a $3,500 donation. The exchange received donations from around 500 people and other contributors such as the France-Merrick Foundation, the Abell Foundation, BGE, the Carrollton Bank Corp., the First Maryland Foundation, the Krieger Foundation, the Macht Foundation, Preservation Maryland, the Neighborhood Design Center, the LaVerna Hahn Trust, NationsBank, the Marino Foundation, the Kirby Charitable Trust, and Network 2000. Diane Coleman became the director of the Exchange in the spring of 1997 after it closed for a month when its bank account started to rapidly decline. Additionally, one of the newest members of the board of managers was Kathy Sander who wrote a book on the 19th century Woman Industrial Movement.
Source:
“Tea Room Regulars, Philanthropists Give Cherished Institution a Needed Boost.” The Baltimore Sun, 8 Jan. 1999.