Lynching in Maryland: Difference between revisions

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'''Commentators:'''
'''Commentators:'''
<blockquote>''Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse'', Maryland State Archivist, retired. Dr. Papenfuse held the positions of Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents from 1975 until 2013. As director of the extensive activities of the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Dr. Papenfuse was responsible for the Archives' vast collection of government and private records.  Dr. Papenfuse presented an impassioned plea for a careful search of all evidence relating to lynching in Maryland coupled with adequate funding for the State Archives to catalogue and preserve those sources.  He referenced an [http://mdhistory.msa.maryland.gov/msaref10/msa_s1048_1_and_10/html/index.html e-publication he created of a disintegrating  clipping file kept by Governor Ritchie and summarized recent investigations into the sources relating to lynching.]  See: [http://mdhistory.msa.maryland.gov/msaref10/msa_s1048_1_and_10/html/index.html 1931-Newspaper Clippings and Correspondence Relating to the Lynching of Matthew Williams, Courthouse lawn, Salisbury, MD, December 4, 1931 MSA S 1048-1 & 10.]    
<blockquote>''Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse'', Maryland State Archivist, retired. Dr. Papenfuse held the positions of Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents from 1975 until 2013. As director of the extensive activities of the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Dr. Papenfuse was responsible for the Archives' vast collection of government and private records.  Dr. Papenfuse presented an impassioned plea for a careful search of all evidence relating to lynching in Maryland coupled with adequate funding for the State Archives to catalogue and preserve those sources.  He referenced an [http://mdhistory.msa.maryland.gov/msaref10/msa_s1048_1_and_10/html/index.html e-publication he created of a disintegrating  clipping file kept by Governor Ritchie and summarized recent investigations into the sources relating to lynching.]  See: [http://mdhistory.msa.maryland.gov/msaref10/msa_s1048_1_and_10/html/index.html 1931-Newspaper Clippings and Correspondence Relating to the Lynching of Matthew Williams, Courthouse lawn, Salisbury, MD, December 4, 1931 MSA S 1048-1 & 10.] </blockquote>   


''C. Christopher Brown'', at the time of the workshop, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Law and a partner in Brown, Goldstein and Levy, and served as General Counsel for the ACLU of Maryland. He authored ''The Road to Jim Crow: The African American Struggle on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, 1860–1915'' published in 2016 by the Maryland Historical Society, now the Maryland Center for History and Culture. </blockquote>
<blockquote>''C. Christopher Brown'', at the time of the workshop, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Law and a partner in Brown, Goldstein and Levy, and served as General Counsel for the ACLU of Maryland. He authored ''The Road to Jim Crow: The African American Struggle on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, 1860–1915'' published in 2016 by the Maryland Historical Society, now the Maryland Center for History and Culture. </blockquote>






For further information on lynching in Maryland see: the "Lynching in Maryland" genealogical project of  the ''BAAHGS–Baltimore Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society'' written and directed by Brett M. Tyler and Donna T. Hollie.  Its objective, building on the research and writing of the  [http://slavery.msa.maryland.gov/html/casestudies/judge_lynch.html <u>''Judge Lynch's Court'' project at the Maryland State Archives</u>,] is to continue the biographical research and writing about individuals lynched, their family and community, and to extend the research and writing to those who perpetrated and collaborated in lynching.
For further information on lynching in Maryland see: the "Lynching in Maryland" genealogical project of  the ''BAAHGS–Baltimore Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society'' written and directed by Brett M. Tyler and Donna T. Hollie.  Its objective, building on the research and writing of the  [http://slavery.msa.maryland.gov/html/casestudies/judge_lynch.html <u>''Judge Lynch's Court'' project at the Maryland State Archives</u>,] is to continue the biographical research and writing about individuals lynched, their family and community, and to extend the research and writing to those who perpetrated and collaborated in lynching.

Revision as of 17:13, 18 September 2022

The Baltimore City Historical Society's 3rd Annual Workshop for Baltimore Historians

May 4, 2007, organized by Professor Garrett Power

MARYLAND LYNCHINGS: THE ILLUSIVE RECORD OF MOB VIOLENCE AND SHAMEFUL DENIAL.

Twentieth century lynching on Maryland's Eastern Shore captured the attention of the media state-wide. Courtrooms served as a stage for the public drama, and the press coverage became part of the story. The Workshop addressed the differences in the treatment of the news to be found in the Baltimore press, (Sun papers and Afro American) from those on the Maryland Shore (Salisbury Times, Cambridge Daily Banner, Worcester Democrat) It discussed the public trials and the news accounts, and considered how they may have instigated the carnage or calmed the crowd, disguised the miscreants or exposed the wrongdoers, exposed the racial violence or denied that it occurred.

In a broader sense the workshop pondered the difficulty of the task faced by the historian when reconstructing the truth of racial violence, and documenting the vigilante assaults on the rule of law. For the ongoing effort to document lynchings in Maryland it credited the pioneering work of the Maryland State Archives in its website Judge Lynch's Court .

Featured speakers included

Sherrilyn Ifill, at the time of the workshop was Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. She subsequently served as the seventh President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) from 2013 to 2022, and currently serves as President and Director-Counsel Emeritus. Sherrilyn Ifill writes about the history of racial violence and contemporary reconciliation efforts. Her book about truth and reconciliation commissions for lynching entitled, On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century released by Beacon Books in February 2007.

Marion Elizabeth Rodgers discussed courage in the time of lynching. Marion Elizabeth Rodgers is the author of Mencken: The American Iconoclast, named "Top Ten Biographies 2005-2006" by Booklist Magazine and rated "Top Ten Literary Best Sellers" by Library Journal. Her previous books include Mencken & Sara: A Life.

Moderator:

Christopher E. Haley, Maryland State Archives Chris Haley is the Research Director for the Archives' History of Slavery in Maryland.

Commentators:

Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse, Maryland State Archivist, retired. Dr. Papenfuse held the positions of Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents from 1975 until 2013. As director of the extensive activities of the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Dr. Papenfuse was responsible for the Archives' vast collection of government and private records. Dr. Papenfuse presented an impassioned plea for a careful search of all evidence relating to lynching in Maryland coupled with adequate funding for the State Archives to catalogue and preserve those sources. He referenced an e-publication he created of a disintegrating clipping file kept by Governor Ritchie and summarized recent investigations into the sources relating to lynching. See: 1931-Newspaper Clippings and Correspondence Relating to the Lynching of Matthew Williams, Courthouse lawn, Salisbury, MD, December 4, 1931 MSA S 1048-1 & 10.

C. Christopher Brown, at the time of the workshop, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Law and a partner in Brown, Goldstein and Levy, and served as General Counsel for the ACLU of Maryland. He authored The Road to Jim Crow: The African American Struggle on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, 1860–1915 published in 2016 by the Maryland Historical Society, now the Maryland Center for History and Culture.


For further information on lynching in Maryland see: the "Lynching in Maryland" genealogical project of the BAAHGS–Baltimore Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society written and directed by Brett M. Tyler and Donna T. Hollie. Its objective, building on the research and writing of the Judge Lynch's Court project at the Maryland State Archives, is to continue the biographical research and writing about individuals lynched, their family and community, and to extend the research and writing to those who perpetrated and collaborated in lynching.