William Gibbs, principal at Rockville Colored Elementary School, petitioned the Board of Education for equal pay for Black educators. His petition was denied, and Gibbs filed suit. He was represented by Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston.
Protests in the summer of 1960 by Howard University students, organized as the Nonviolent Action Group, led to the integration of the Glen Echo Amusement Park in 1961. Legal battles over the carousel sit-in continued until 1964.
Carver was the first African-American junior college in Montgomery County, while Lincoln High School was the only high school. Carver High School and Junior College opened in 1951 and later merged with Montgomery Jr. College following desegregation.
Mitchell, a U.S. Senator, was an effective proponent of civil rights through legislation. He served as Director of the NAACP’s Washington bureau for 30 years. On the University’s Board of Regents, he worked to eradicate discrimination.
The 1964 film, based on John Howard Griffin’s book, provides a view of the Jim Crow South, hoping to destroy barriers between Blacks and Whites. Filming was done in secret to avoid violence. Griffin gave lectures during the Civil Rights movement.
Doswell Brooks served as Supervisor of Colored Schools in 1922, and in 1956 was appointed as the first African-American member of the Board of Education. He also served on the Fairmount Heights Town Council and was Mayor from 1955 to 1968.
Formerly “Henry’s Colored Hotel,” this facility catered to African-American tourists and entertainers who stayed here while performing at the Pier Ballroom. The beach was restricted also via reserved periods known as “Colored Excursion Days.”
Lorraine Henry and her husband George purchased this land in 1952 and developed a popular day resort for African Americans. Families enjoyed ball games, swimming, fishing, crabbing and home-style cooking, as well as the premier Black entertainment.
The mural, featuring the community around Pine Street, highlights important figures in Cambridge’s rich African-American history, culture and heritage, including Gloria Richardson Dandrige, a leader in the Civil Rights movement.