L. Randolph Bromery

Lawrence Randolph Bromery, 1900 - 1974

As a young black in Cumberland, L. Randolph Bromery ended his formal educational pursuits at high school age. This was at a time when black students were obliged to obtain their high school education by entering the back door of a school on Greene Street, (most likely the Allegany County High School which was built in 1908 and burned down in 1932) at night and to pay for those classes as well! This experience taught Randolph a lesson no school could provide.

In order to save and provide for his own children's education, Bromery served as a custodian at the Allegany County Library and worked diligently over the years as a waiter in various clubs and restaurants throughout the Cumberland area including the Cumberland Country Club.

The results were in 1972 his son, Randolph W. Bromery, was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by Frostburg State College for his accomplishments leading to a chancellorship at a major university. Another son became a scientist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; another an electrical engineer with the Federal Communications Commission, and a daughter secured employment with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The former president of Frostburg State University Nelson P. Guild, once referred to L. Randolph Bromery as, "a rock of a man who must be very proud". L. Randolph Bromery's wife, Edith, was born in 1904 and had passed away in 1947.