On August 28, 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, and segregation ended at Gwynn Oak Amusement Park, which once occupied this site, after 10 years of protests and demonstrations.
The Colored Schoolhouse was a one-room school with 6 grades that operated from 1904 to 1939. The schoolhouse has been restored and furnished to its 1904 appearance. Tours and field trips are available that demonstrate segregated education.
The historic Galesville Rosenwald School operated from 1931 through 1956 to educate African-American children. It now houses a community center and hosts exhibits and events. The Hot Sox, an African-American sandlot baseball team, played here.
Nine civil rights demonstrators walked onto I-495 to protest the lack of rental housing for African Americans in the D.C. suburbs. Attorney Jones led a three-day, 64-mile march around the beltway.
This marker at the Sandy Spring Slave Museum & African Art Gallery honors Elijah Cummings, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1996-2019 and fought for civil rights and to improve opportunities for African Americans.
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.