Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, with daughter Juanita, begins “Buy Where You Work” Campaign in 1931. She makes the Baltimore branch of the NAACP the largest and most effective.
Lillie May Carroll Jackson is the mother of the Civil Rights Movement Read More »
The General Assembly makes new (old) flag official in 1904. Based on heraldic crests in the George Calvert family it is now the most popular and most recognized state flag. The flag was used by both sides during the Civil War conflict. A full description of the flag’s history is on Maryland Secretary of State’s website.
Maryland’s flag, the most popular, has a long history Read More »
The Afro-American is the oldest family-owned newspaper in the U.S. Founded in 1892 by John Henry Murphy, born a slave and a Civil War veteran, the newspaper becomes the most successful weekly on the East Coast. It is still run by the Murphy family
John Murphy founds Afro-American newspaper Read More »
Howard Cooper, African American, at 15 in 1885, is among the youngest persons in US to be lynched. He is lynched in front of the old Towson jail. Maryland is first to create a Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2019.
Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission established Read More »
In Baltimore in 1870 the largest national gathering celebrates Congress passing 15th Amendment. The Maryland Assembly does not pass 15th until 1973.
Governor Thomas Swann oversees the Maryland convention that passes new a constitution in 1867, renewing the franchise for returning Confederate soldiers and sets back the new political gains of newly freed slaves. Maryland refuses to ratify 14th & 15th amendments.
An 1867 constitution reverses the one in 1864, re-infranchising returning Confederates Read More »
National Labor Union is founded in 1866 in Baltimore, making it the first in the nation and calls for the 8 hour workday. In 1872 it creates a National Labor Party which is not successful in a national election
National Labor Union founded Read More »
Isaac Myers purchases a dockyard to employ Black workers and forms them into a caulker’s union in 1866. He is invited to the National Labor Convention in 1869. Ultimately, discrimination forces his union out of the national union.
Isaac Myers forms a trade union for Black workers Read More »
Sgt. Major Christian Fleetwood, Civil War hero, almost becomes the first Black commissioned officer in the US Army in 1865. Every white commissioned officer in the 4th US Colored Troops recommends him but the Secretary or War declines.
Mary Jenkins Surratt is hanged in 1865 with three other conspirators for plotting to kill President Abraham Lincoln. She is the first woman executed by the federal government. She is hanging on the far left of the scaffold.
Mary Surratt is the first woman hanged by the federal government Read More »
We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.
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