Timeline

The Pearl Incident

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | The incident involving The Pearl was the largest recorded non-violent escape attempt by enslaved people.

Timeline

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required that freedom seekers be returned to their owners without due process of law.

Timeline

Census in Southern Maryland revealed Blacks continue to outnumber whites

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | According to the 1860 census, 58.7% of the total population was Black.

Timeline

Drayden African American One Room Schoolhouse established

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | The Drayden African American Schoolhouse was one of three serving African American families in the Valley Lee district.

Timeline

First Rosenwald School in Calvert County opened

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | The first Rosenwald School in Calvert County opened in 1921.

Timeline

First High School for African Americans opened in St. Mary’s County

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | Cardinal Gibbons Institute opened in September 1924, as the first high school for African Americans in St. Mary’s County.

Timeline

First public High School for African American’s opened in St. Mary’s County

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | Benjamin Banneker High School opened its doors in 1934 and was the first public high school for African Americans in St. Mary’s County.

Timeline

Elizabeth Barber Walker enrolled in St. Mary’s Junior College

Updated On: Apr 5, 2024 | Elizabeth Barber Walker enrolled in St. Mary’s Junior College as their first Black student.

Timeline

Joan and Conrad Groves integrated Great Mills High School

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | The Groves children enrolled into Great Mills High School in the fall of 1958, making Joan and Conrad the first African American students to

Timeline

Calvert and St. Mary’s County Public Schools were desegregated

Updated On: Apr 3, 2024 | Twelve years after Brown v Board of Education, only six of Maryland’s counties had desegregated their schools.

Timeline

The Pearl Incident

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Census in Southern Maryland revealed Blacks continue to outnumber whites

Drayden African American One Room Schoolhouse established

First Rosenwald School in Calvert County opened

First High School for African Americans opened in St. Mary’s County

First public High School for African American’s opened in St. Mary’s County

Elizabeth Barber Walker enrolled in St. Mary’s Junior College

Joan and Conrad Groves integrated Great Mills High School

Calvert and St. Mary’s County Public Schools were desegregated

Southern Maryland
Equity in History Coalition

The Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition is a transformative collaboration of local organizations and educational institutions, committed to elevating the history of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color in our region.

Learn how you can support our mission.

Timeline

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