UM’s sad Jim Crow legacy began to crumble radically in the 1960’s as the impact of the Civil Rights and Black Liberation movements found its way to College Park. One of the student demands of the time was a call for more Black History.  Although taught on some predominantly Black campuses, it was almost unknown at predominantly white institutions like UM.

Craig Simpson and I were just talking (by email) about people we remembered from the early 70s and David Ifshin’s name came up. Craig and I worked on the National Student Association’s newsletter when David was its president and NSA supported the UM antiwar activities. I “Googled” David and was shocked to find that he died of cancer in mid-1996.

I’m fascinated by how many of us Maryland radicals turned our backs on the white collar professional world college was supposed to send us to. For example, my parents were both New Deal era low income people who caught the 1950’s boom and with help from the GI Bill, Veterans housing and hard work took me from inner city DC, to working class Glenmont and then to the split-level suburbs of Silver Spring.