Allegany County Maryland--History

Gates writer-in-residence at Shepherd University
Piedmont native also receives Appalachian Heritage Writers Award

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr., author, educator, scholar, editor, literary critic and intellectual, was on the Shepherd University campus recently as its Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence.

On Oct. 3, Gates spoke before a standing-room-only audience in the university's Frank Theater on "Speaking of Race and Appalachia" and was presented with the Appalachian Heritage Writers Award.

Frederick Street School debate team, 1926.

The year 1918 brought the opening of Cumberland High School, a black high school located on Frederick Street. In keeping with the Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, the new school for black students was, in theory, to be, "separate but equal." B.H. Smith was the principal and it was initially established as a two-year institution.

This photograph was taken in 1926 and along with the accompanying write-up appeared in the 1926 Frederick Street (later Carver) School Yearbook. These five girls were all competing in a popularity contest for the school's Valentine's Day Dance to be held on February 12, 1926.
Depicted here in the front row, left to right are Hazel (Stephens) Gates, Sadie D. Washington (the winner of the contest), and Kathleen (Francis) Washington. In the back row, left to right are Nellie (Franklin) Diggins and Gussie (Rawlings) Bradley.

Carver High School graduates for 1940 pose in front of the school for a class photograph. Geraldine Lovett (later Smith) is on the left in the front row, while Gladys Chamberlain (later Bartlett) is in the middle. In the third row, second from the left, is Anna Yates (later Washington), while Angela Parker is third from the left.

The PDF lists the graduating students from 1936 to 1955, provided by Herman Washington.

Ground broken for memorial to honor African-American Civil War veterans

Rectifying what one organizer called a “historical oversight,” a groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial to honor African-American veterans of Lyon Post No. 31 of the Grand Army of the Republic was held Tuesday at Hagerstown’s Rose Hill Cemetery.

The Grand Army of the Republic was a veterans organization for those who battled for the Union during the Civil War.

Vietnam Veterans

Many local African-Americans served during the Vietnam War. Four of these men are among the local Vietnam Veterans of America Honor Guard.

John “Perkey” Yates leads Cumberland Chapter #172 of the Vietnam Veterans of America Honor Guard during the opening ceremonies of the National Day of Prayer on the Downtown Cumberland Mall, May 4, 2017. Second in line is Robert Peck and fourth in line is James “Song” Meade. Holding the blue flag in the second photograph is Jimmy Washington.
 

Women have played an increasingly important role in the armed forces. In March 2005, about 350,000 women were serving in the U.S. military, almost 15% of active duty personnel, one in seven soldiers. (From: NPR Radio, Wounded in War: The Women Serving in Iraq, March 14, 2005).

Fulton Myers Post 153 Razed
The Fulton Myers American Legion Post #153 was razed in October 2011. The building was damaged in a March 2010 fire, the cause of which was determined to be arson after fire investigators found combustibles inside the building.

This photograph depicts the Fulton Myers Post 153 American Legion located on North Mechanic Street in Cumberland. It was named for Fulton J. Myers (1890-1918), a young black soldier serving in the 351st Field Artillery who died at Camp Meade (later known as Fort George Meade) in Maryland.

The following is an excerpt from Cumberland, Maryland Through The Eyes of Herman J. Miller

This photograph from about 1962 depicts a food donation to the Salvation Army from Fulton Myers Post #153. Depicted from left to right are John "June" Stephens, George Ashby, Major Ben Jones of the Salvation Army official, and William Jones.

The Post (on Mechanic Street, Cumberland) was named in honor of Private Fulton J. Myers who died in 1918 at Camp Meade. The Fulton Myers Post #153 of the American Legion was closed during the summer of 2008. The Post was damaged by a fire in 2010 and razed in 2011.