The University of Maryland(UM) has a rich history of political activism. That story has never been adequately told. We hope that you will contribute your memories and research so we can bring that history to a new generation.
Maryland is a former slave state that had a large population of pro-Confederate sympathatizers during the Civil War. Even after the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, Maryland remained a bitterly divided state with widespread rigid racial segregation.
In 1935, Thurgood Marshall (the future Supreme Court Justice) and Donald Murray went to court over UM’s segregationist admissions policies. Parren Mitchell, who went on to a successful career in Congress, did the same in 1950. The first Black undergraduate at the University of Maryland, Hiram Whittle, was admitted in 1951 as part of an NAACP effort.
The 1954 Brown vrs. Board of Education decision struck a major blow against racial segregation when it forced the desegregation of Maryland schools. A massive civil rights movement soon followed in the wake of Brown as thousands of Americans took to the streets to demand racial equality. The civil rights movement in Maryland was met with violence and arrests as it fought to break down the infamous “White Only” barriers in public accomodations, housing employment, and other areas of daily life.
University of Maryland students were active in the fight for civil rights. An example of their efforts was a protest about racial segregation at a College Park bowling alley. In 1964, they tried to organize a campus chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality(CORE). After their application was turned down by the Administration, they re-organized as the Students for a Democratic Society(SDS) to battle against racial segregation.
Later, a University Fair Housing Committee was established which challenged the racial segregation of housing near the campus. Black students organized a Black Students Union to speak out against the racism still prevalent on the UM campus. A Campus Coalition Against Racism(CCAR) was also established.
As the US escalated the Viet Nam War, accompanied by increasing casualties and destruction, SDS expanded into anti-war protest.
In 1966, a near riot ensued in the Student Union as angry right-wing students confronted SDSers protesting military recruitment. The incident sparked a freewheeling teach-in where hundreds of students debated the war. SDS continued its anti-war protests despite Administration and right-wing student opposition.
In 1968, under the leadership of President Gladys Jefferson, the largely Black campus workers union (American Federation of State, County and Municiple Employees Local 1072) formed an alliance with the SDS and the Black Students Union to protest low pay and widespread racial discrimination in hiring and promotion.
Although University of Maryland student protests remained smaller than those held at such campuses as Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin, they grew in number and gained wider support.
SDS succumbed to internal divisions in 1969 and went into decline. But radicals gained power in the Student Government elections as shown by the student government presidencies of Mike Gold, Madison Jones and Mark Strumpf.
After the university refused to grant tenure to two popular professors, students held a sit-in at Skinner Hall in the spring of 1970. 87 students were arrested and many more rallied to their cause.
Then Nixon invaded Cambodia on April 30. On May 1 UM students rallied on the Mall and then invaded the ROTC offices in the Armory. When students blocked Route 1, Governor Mandel called in the police who used clubs and tear gas.
That began 2 weeks of sometimes violent mass demonstrations at UM which led to a National Guard takeover of the campus. During this time, a student-faculty strike succeeded in shutting down most classes.
On the national scene, 4 students were shot dead at Kent State and 2 more at Jackson State. A nationwide student strike closed campuses down around the country.
There were more Route 1 occupations in 1971 and 1972.
When students first tried to organize a women’s liberation group, their posters were torn down and they were initially denied a place to meet. One of the first battles the women’s movement won at UM was the right for female employees to wear pants to work. In 1971, the first 3 women’s studies classes
enrolled 232 students and the women’s liberation movement at UM was eventually granted a Women’s Center.
Later in the 1970’s, there were protests by Black faculty and staff over the seemingly endemic racism of the university as well as a drawn out battle over the appointment of Marxist professor Bertell Ollman as head of the Government and Politics Department.
We hope that people will help us write the whole story of political activism at the University of Maryland. The success of this effort depends on you.
Maryland is a former slave state that had a large population of pro-Confederate sympathatizers during the Civil War. Even after the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, Maryland remained a bitterly divided state with widespread rigid racial segregation.
In 1935, Thurgood Marshall (the future Supreme Court Justice) and Donald Murray went to court over UM’s segregationist admissions policies. Parren Mitchell, who went on to a successful career in Congress, did the same in 1950. The first Black undergraduate at the University of Maryland, Hiram Whittle, was admitted in 1951 as part of an NAACP effort.
Thurgood Marshall & Donald Murray 1935 (Left)
Parren Mitchell 1995 (Right)
The 1954 Brown vrs. Board of Education decision struck a major blow against racial segregation when it forced the desegregation of Maryland schools. A massive civil rights movement soon followed in the wake of Brown as thousands of Americans took to the streets to demand racial equality. The civil rights movement in Maryland was met with violence and arrests as it fought to break down the infamous “White Only” barriers in public accomodations, housing employment, and other areas of daily life.
Political Activism at the University of Maryland
University of Maryland students were active in the fight for civil rights. An example of their efforts was a protest about racial segregation at a College Park bowling alley. In 1964, they tried to organize a campus chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality(CORE). After their application was turned down by the Administration, they re-organized as the Students for a Democratic Society(SDS) to battle against racial segregation.
Later, a University Fair Housing Committee was established which challenged the racial segregation of housing near the campus. Black students organized a Black Students Union to speak out against the racism still prevalent on the UM campus. A Campus Coalition Against Racism(CCAR) was also established.
As the US escalated the Viet Nam War, accompanied by increasing casualties and destruction, SDS expanded into anti-war protest.
In 1966, a near riot ensued in the Student Union as angry right-wing students confronted SDSers protesting military recruitment. The incident sparked a freewheeling teach-in where hundreds of students debated the war. SDS continued its anti-war protests despite Administration and right-wing student opposition.
In 1968, under the leadership of President Gladys Jefferson, the largely Black campus workers union (American Federation of State, County and Municiple Employees Local 1072) formed an alliance with the SDS and the Black Students Union to protest low pay and widespread racial discrimination in hiring and promotion.Although University of Maryland student protests remained smaller than those held at such campuses as Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin, they grew in number and gained wider support.
SDS succumbed to internal divisions in 1969 and went into decline. But radicals gained power in the Student Government elections as shown by the student government presidencies of Mike Gold, Madison Jones and Mark Strumpf.
After the university refused to grant tenure to two popular professors, students held a sit-in at Skinner Hall in the spring of 1970. 87 students were arrested and many more rallied to their cause.
Then Nixon invaded Cambodia on April 30. On May 1 UM students rallied on the Mall and then invaded the ROTC offices in the Armory. When students blocked Route 1, Governor Mandel called in the police who used clubs and tear gas.
That began 2 weeks of sometimes violent mass demonstrations at UM which led to a National Guard takeover of the campus. During this time, a student-faculty strike succeeded in shutting down most classes.
On the national scene, 4 students were shot dead at Kent State and 2 more at Jackson State. A nationwide student strike closed campuses down around the country.
There were more Route 1 occupations in 1971 and 1972.
When students first tried to organize a women’s liberation group, their posters were torn down and they were initially denied a place to meet. One of the first battles the women’s movement won at UM was the right for female employees to wear pants to work. In 1971, the first 3 women’s studies classes
enrolled 232 students and the women’s liberation movement at UM was eventually granted a Women’s Center. Later in the 1970’s, there were protests by Black faculty and staff over the seemingly endemic racism of the university as well as a drawn out battle over the appointment of Marxist professor Bertell Ollman as head of the Government and Politics Department.
We hope that people will help us write the whole story of political activism at the University of Maryland. The success of this effort depends on you.