Allegany County Maryland--History

Breaking Barriers
February 29, 2004

Area residents recall an era of integration.

Just 50 years ago black patrons weren't allowed to enter the front doors of some theaters in downtown Cumberland. Local restaurants required African-Americans to dine in separate areas from whites, or they banned black customers altogether.

But perhaps worst of all, until the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in a case that became known as Brown vs. the Board of Education, black children could not attend the same schools as white children.

I was born and raised in Cumberland and graduated with my sister Betty in the first graduating class from Carver High School in 1942, a class of 16 students. Carver High School was formerly known as the Frederick Street High School. I attended the school from the first grade to the 12th grade, and my high school English teacher was Miss Ruth Franklin. I was blessed with a loving, warm, but strict home environment made up of my mother, Edith Bromery my father, Randolph Bromery and my grandmother, Sarah Bromery. All lived out their full lives in Cumberland.

Inspired by teachers, together we overcame segregation

Recent articles have prompted me to write about Miss Franklin, other dedicated teachers and the struggle to acquire an education at Carver School.

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Miss Franklin was one of many teachers who set high expectations for the Carver student body. If she heard a grammatical error, she displayed a face so soft and somber, we all secretly vowed to never again commit such a felonious act. Speaking ebonies would have horrified Miss Franklin and the entire faculty.

Lincoln School History Traced

Over the past year or so several inquiries have come to me about the Lincoln School here in Frostburg. To most people, that name is associated with the small brick building that is now the headquarters for the campus police at the university.

Mary Louise Pope (left) and Patricia Ann Hurt (right) graduated from Allegany High School in 1956 and were among the first black students to graduate from Allegany High School following the integration of the public schools in September 1955. Both were in the General course of studies and as portrayed in this photograph, were members of the All-Maryland Chorus.

These are the graduation photographs of the three students who were the first to graduate from an Allegany County high school following integration. This was in May 1956 at Fort Hill High School which was the first among the schools to hold its commencement. The notations appeared next to their photographs in the school yearbook.

Harold Eugene Hilton was enrolled in the Vocational curriculum, a member of the Hi-Y, Town Meeting, and considered to be a "neat dresser", "friendly", and have a "wonderful personality".

In May 1956, Fort Hill High School of Cumberland held the first commencement exercise in Allegany County with participating African-American students following integration. Judy Leath, Harold Hilton and William Peck were among the first of this group of students graduating from Fort Hill. Prior to school integration, Judy, Harold and William had attended Carver High School.

As a result of the 1954 Brown versus Board of Education Supreme Court decision which forbade "separate but equal" education, the Allegany County Board of Education on July 12, 1955 stated that the county schools would begin the process of integration.

No Integration Violence In Md.

Schools in five more counties and Baltimore City opened for business yesterday, leaving 13 counties in the state still to begin sessions.

And, as throughout Tuesday, there was no serious threat of violence as many schools admitted Negro children.

Passive resistance was observed in two localities. One the Eastern Shore, about 50 white children were taken out of elementary schools at Easton and Oxford because six Negroes were admitted at Easton and two at Oxford.

Clinton [Tennessee] Intimidation Campaign Indicated

CLINTON, Tenn., Sept. 5 — Segregationists in militia-quieted Clinton were accused today of threatening to dynamite homes of white children attending racially mixed classes—but more pupil# came to school.