Allegany County Maryland--History

KKK marches in county, 2004

By GREGORY T. SIMMONS

March in Sharpsburg requires about 100 police officers.

Fewer than a dozen people marched in support of the Ku Klux Klan on Saturday in Sharpsburg, although the group was flanked by dozens of police and media representatives as the parade worked its way through town.

Just after 1 p.m., two Klansmen in white hoods and robes carrying the KKK’s flag and the Confederate Flag were followed by the rest of the parade group.

Cross burning
CUMBERLAND

Frostburg Visited By KKK Members

Ten robed members of the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan visited the downtown Frostburg area during the weekend to distribute literature and talk with anyone willing to listen.

Three young men wearing combat fatigues stood by as a security force, just "in case," according to one Klansman.

Scattered groups of curious on-lookers gathered on city streets as the KKK members solicited members.

"Personally, I don't want them here," a city official said.

Maryland Knights of the
Ku Klux Klan
Rally
CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND

Saturday May 5th         7:30 pm
Sunday May 6th       1:00 pm

Grand Dragons
DALE REUSCH - Ohio
JERRY GREENE - N. Jersey
BOB SCOGGINs So. Carolina
Tony Laricci - Maryland
Special Guest Speaker: JAMES VENABLE
Imperial Wizard

From Cumberland take Industrial Blvd., to Route 51 – 5 miles from City limits — then follow signs. Rally held on Moore Hollow Road, top of Irons Mtn.

Ground wanted to rent for Klan Rallies

THE “GREEN BOOK” - GLENWOOD MANOR TOURIST HOME:

What was the “Green Book?” The following description is excerpted from a website entitled, “The Architecture of the Negro Travelers’ Green Book.”

“The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, a guidebook for African-American travelers, was published by New York City mailman Victor Hugo Green in response to pervasive and widespread racial discrimination during the pre Civil Rights-era. Green’s guide featured hotels, restaurants, service stations and other places where African-Americans could count on being served.”

Former Springfield College President and University of Massachusetts-Amherst Chancellor Randolph W. Bromery, 78, was asked by the Republican's Newspaper in Education program to share his story of growing up during the 1930s in Maryland as part of the paper's "Exploring Black History" series.

I was born in a small house on Carroll Street in Cumberland, Md., on what I am told was a very cold day in January 1926 and was the second child born to my parents. My sister was born less than a year earlier.

It's better, but much is left to do
On King's birthday, blacks view civil rights movement

ALISON BUNTING
Times-News Staff Writer

CUMBERLAND —

African Americans in Cumberland view the civil rights movement as positive, but not without difficulty. Most say there is still a distance to go.

Today the nation is observing the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. His legacy lives on.

Pansye S. Atkinson (1930-2022)

Pansye S. Atkinson was born in Asheville, North Carolina and acquired her undergraduate degree from Fisk University in Tennessee. She began her career as a school teacher in Georgetown, South Carolina and later taught in Baltimore City.

THE RECENT PAST

Pam Harper described what it was like to grow up black in Cumberland. "It wasn't until 1957-1968 that blacks here began to be treated like people. We weren't 'allowed' in movie houses. We had different schools (Harper attended the all-black Carver School which was located on Frederick Street). We weren't 'allowed' to eat with whites and we had different bathrooms and water fountains. We went swimming in the 'black pool.'"

Crossing The Bridge...

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal."—Declaration of Independence.

And now, almost two hundred years after Thomas Jefferson wrote these words, America's dream of brotherhood, equality and tolerance is coming true. Integration bridges the chasm of racial intolerance and convinces us that the aspirations of our Founding Fathers were not wishful dreaming but functional democracy.