African Americans History

Cross-Burning by the Ku Klux Klan in Vale Summit

by Anton Urbas

During the early stages of the 1921-24 coal strike that swept through the George's Creek coal basin, a group of men from our village formed a cell of the Ku Klux Klan. The identity of these individuals was a closely guarded secret among those families whose men were a part of this cell. As youngsters, endowed with a keen perception, we viewed these crude attempts of maintaining secrecy of identities as a throw-back of the Middle Ages-nothing escaped us.

The Lynching of Anthony Crawford

rederick Douglass, Cumberland's Emancipation Celebration

The following article appeared in the September 24, 1879 edition of the Washington Post. It was forwarded to me by the Allegany Museum. The fairgrounds reference were at that time located in South Cumberland:

"On this day, September 23 1879, Marshal Frederick Douglass arrived by express train at Cumberland’s Queen City hotel. Douglass was to lecture for the Emancipation celebration.

Black soldiers buried separately at Antietam
Officials seek information

SHARPSBURG (AP) — Eight black soldiers who served in the two World Wars are buried in the back corner of the Antietam National Cemetery, separated from their white contemporaries because of segregation.

A few names are barely legible on the weathered headstones: Pfc. Howard S. Puller of West Virginia; Sgt. Littleton Goens of Maryland; Lee I. Lavender, a cook.

African-American Marriage Licenses, Garrett County

The following information is from a posting written by Gene Miller, a staff member of the Takoma Park, Maryland Library. 

"The African-American community in southern Garrett County from about 1870 -1930 is not well-documented. It was small, numbering fewer than 200 at its largest, but still large enough to have built its own church building, the Bethel A.M.E. Church at the corner of N.5th and E. High Sts. Many worked at the railroad resorts/hotels for which southern Garrett County was renowned.

Martin Luther King Day official holiday in 1994

RICHARD KERNS

CUMBERLAND Confronted by representatives of the Allegany County NAACP complaining about recent incidents of racism in Allegany County, and a poor minority hiring record in county government, the Allegany County Commissioners agreed Monday to make Martin Luther King Day an official county holiday in 1994.

Kate Smith Brodie – Oakland Town Council

The first person to commit murder and be hanged in Garrett County was John Herbert Smith, a former slave. The PDF file tells the full story of the murder of Josiah Harden, and Smith's arrest, escape and final execution.

This 1908 postcard depicts the Western Maryland Railroad Depot at Gorman, Maryland, the community where the murder took place. At the time of the murder in 1883, Smith was a railroad construction foreman. The railroad was most likely the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh which eventually merged into the Western Maryland.

"Unity & Healing" - Oakland (Garrett County), Maryland

"Juneteenth March for Justice" - Cumberland

On June 19, 2020 a March for Justice was held in Cumberland, Maryland. The march began at St. Paul’s English Lutheran Church on Washington Street and concluded with a rally at Cumberland City Hall. Two separate observers estimate the crowd at about 350+ people. The event was sponsored by Allegany County Branch 7007 of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Signs and chants included