Allegany County Maryland--History

Even some of America's most famous entertainers of the era, because they were African-Americans, were barred from staying in the city's mainstream hotels. As such, such notable musicians as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, and others often stayed at the Davis Tourist Home while on tour. These stays were often a week at a time when their bands came into town to play the Cadillac Lounge, Crystal Park, and other venues.

It has been said that a successful man is least known in his own environment. Possibly, this was the case of Donald "Don" Redman, a Mineral County native by way of Piedmont, West Virginia, who lived with and entertained area audiences before his rise to stardom.

A graduate of Howard School ('15), Don was the son of Daniel and Henrietta Redman. He earned his degree in music at Storer College, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and did advanced work at the Boston and Detroit Conservatories.

This band was giving a concert on Pratt Street where the Devon Club now stands (in Luke, Maryland) when this photograph was taken in about 1906.

Identified here are,
Front row, left to right: Wesley Streets, Ed Bush, Hennis Taylor, Don Redman, Mac Clifford, and Richard Gilmore.
Back row, left to right: Charles Gilmore, Clarence Martin, Scott Washington, Harry Stewart, Herb Washington, Jessie Kent and Pete Jones.

Allegany NAACP Voice of Freedom Awards

Juneteenth Official Cumberland Holiday

JUNETEENTH REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY AND MARCH, 2021

On June 19, 2021 a “William Burns Remembrance” ceremony was held at the site of the proposed William Burns Historical Marker at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The ceremony was sponsored by the Allegany County Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Committee (ACLTRC). William Burns was an African-American who was lynched on October 6, 1907. This was after a mob attacked the jail where Burns was awaiting trial for reportedly shooting a white police officer who was attempting to arrest him.

2020 Black History Month

Black History Month

Ned, Murph, Sam, Enoch, Daphney, William, Hannah and Jupe.

These are the names of some of the 17 slaves John Blackford owned at the Ferry Hill Plantation near Sharpsburg in the 1800s, Paula Reed told the audience Sunday during a Black History Month program at the Robert W. Johnson Community Center in Hagerstown.

Ned and Jupe ran the rope ferry across the Potomac River, to what was then Virginia, for Blackford, said Reed, a historic-preservation consultant with Paula S. Reed and Associates in Hagerstown.

CUMBERLAND — The Allegany County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted a free celebration in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on Monday in the Allegany College of Maryland Zimmer Theatre.

"I'm a child of the '60s and I'm a very, very active civil rights activist," said Carmen Jackson, president of the Allegany County branch of NAACP. "My mother was the first black woman to run for Congresswoman in the United States, so I marched under Dr. Martin Luther King as a child."

STUDENTS CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY

In recognition of Black History Month, Christa Kelly's kindergarten class at Parkside Elementary School made history come to life by transforming an ordinary history lesson into The Oprah Winfrey Show. The students were asked to research famous African Americans and then present to the class various interesting facts about each one.

First row from the left are, Xavier Twigg as Michael Jordan; Lainey Golliday as Oprah Winfrey; Benji Bryan as Martin Luther King Jr., and Timmy Sterne as Muhammed Ali.