Tag: elkton

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Remembering Triumph’s Home Front Defense Workers Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice

Triumph Munitions Plant Elkton
An undated aerial view of the Triumph Explosives Industries planet located on the northwestern side of Elkton in the area of Trijmp Industrial Park along Blue Ball Road (private collection)
As this Memorial Day — the time to honor those who died in the military while serving our country —  draws to a close, we also want to remember another group who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation.  These were Women Ordnance Workers (WOW) and men employed at Triumph and other defense jobs in Elkton. 
 
On the home front, they carried out dangerous assignments, producing munitions needed to win the war.

People frequently talk about the big 1943 explosion at the munitions plants, but there were others, and a census or registry of civilian defense workers has never been compiled.  It was perilous, and while non-fatal explosions occurred with some regularity,  a few were lethal.

Following what was described as Maryland’s worst munitions plant explosion in 1943, the Morning News wrote in an Editorial (May 5, 1943), “There is a little which can be said that will console the families who have lost one or more members as a result of this disaster.  Yet, if they stop to reflect, they do have the comfort of knowing that their sons and daughters gave their lives just as surely and in a no less patriotic way than if they had died on the field of battle.  They too were soldiers in the great cause to which America had dedicated itself and to the success of which it had pledged all its human and material resources.”

According to our preliminary findings, at least twenty-two members of this group died in Elkton.

Feb. 21, 1940 – Before the United States formally entered the war, two men lost their lives, and fourteen other employees were injured in an explosion, which wrecked two buildings and damaged others at the Triumph Fusee and Fireworks Company plant.  The plant employed approximately 500 people.  For some time, the company had been chiefly engaged in the manufacture of airplane flares and other pyrotechnic equipment on Government contracts.  Sheriff David J. Randolph and Deputy Ralph W. Robinson rushed to the plant as soon as they heard the explosion after calling for state police assistance.  Only one ambulance was available in Elkton, and it carried several of the injured to the hospital

  • Edward Knief, 38, Newark DE – died instantly.
  • Charles Willard Gatchell, 32 of North East, died at Union Hospital

July 24, 1942 – Victor Vardaro, 37, of Bear, died at Union Hospital the day after he received burns while closing the door to the power grinding room at Vardaro Fireworks Manufacturing Plant.  Vardaro was the plant manager, which was owned by his father, Alexander.

  • Victor Vardaro, 37, Bear, DE

May 5, 1943  —  The state’s worst fireworks-munitions plant explosion killed fifteen workers and injured about 60 more.  A series of blasts were followed by fires that destroyed two plant buildings and spread to three other Triumph Explosives, Inc structures.

The explosion occurred in a building that was used to manufacture tracer bullets.  Seconds later an adjoining building blew up.  Fire companies from five communities aided plant firemen in battling the flames.  Later, a fire broke out in a canteen filled with employees, resulting in many injuries.

The plant hospital was quickly filled, along with a 25-bed Civil Defense Emergency Hospital setup on the grounds, but the more seriously injured were rushed to Union Hospital.  Throughout the night medical personnel performed life-saving procedures.  Later, Bodies were taken to the Pippin Funeral Home on East Main Street.  Hundreds stood silently “outside under the old trees, which line the street,” as people entered the undertaking parlor to try to identify the dead.

Benjamin F. Pepper, President of the company, appealed to the corporation’s 13,000 employees to return to work immediately.  “We will do everything in our power to prevent any similar accident and to fight on with you harder than ever before,” was printed on red, white and blue signs posted in surrounding communities.

After a seventeen-hour shutdown, thousands of workers “hushed and grim-faced, slowly filed through the guard gates at Trumph Explosive. ending the seventeen-hour shutdown that followed the incident, the Evening Sun reported (May 5, 1943)

May 5, 1943 –

  •  Willie Craddock, South Boston, VA.
  •  Mauhee Nediffer, Allentown Hills, WV.
  • Susan Nolli, Eynon, PA
  • Charles Millman, Camden, DE
  • Della Truman, Cedar Grove, WV
  • Ellis Simmons, Elkton
  • Iva Young Ward, W.V
  • Wilson Warner, Elkton
  • Mrs. Hurley Galmore, Coatesville, PA
  • Christine Erby, Raleigh NC
  • Jake Peatross, Danville, VA
  • Gilbert Poore, Warwick, MD.
  • Harry Rias, Dover, DE
  • Chester Whaley, Wilmington, DE
  • Ivy Young, Ward, WV.

June 21, 1943 – Three men died in a flash fire at Triumph.  They were dumping defective waste material in what is known as a fire pit when an incident occurred.

  •  William Nelson Kellum, Carpenters Point
  • Samuel Perkins, Still Pond
  • William Smith, 37, North East

Sept. 6, 1943 – An explosion of undetermined origin wrecked a small building at Triumph Explosive plant about noon an 18-year-old.

  • Lester Billings, 18, Wilkesboro, NC

The registry probably represents an undercount as the primary sources for this preliminary registry are city and local newspapers, and the papers may not have covered isolated incidents.  We plan to continue adding information to this summary and will share it as we develop it.

For more on the Triumph Fire Department, see this article.
women ordnance workers at triumph plant in elkton.
Women defense or ordnance workers doing assembly work at the Triumph Munitions Plant. (Source TNT, May 1943, personal collection)
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Senator Robert Kennedy’s Funeral Train Passes Elkton

Late in the afternoon of June 8, 1968, the long-delayed funeral train carrying the body of Senator Robert F. Kennedy to Washington passed through Elkton. It was around 6 p.m. and the train was about 4-hours late. Larry Beers, a teenager, took his 8-mm home movie camera and captured the scene that hot June afternoon so long ago. Recently the footage, which had been unseen for nearly 50 years, was retrieved and Professor Rein Jelle Terpstra digitized the film. Here is Larry’s 3-minute film from Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/274153440?fbclid=IwAR2ux42FtK3tFodjNcyWm0huUDRSDczoAmNF5hSm0ivNtH4ZANhr0c0cY48

If the imbed isn’t working here’s a direct link to the video

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The Age of the Automobile Arrives in Cecil: 1st License Issued to Port Deposit Resident

auto rising sun
The automobile age has arrived in Rising Sun in this postcard issued around the time of World War I. Source: personal collection

In a time when horses, carriages, and bicycles provided transportation, the sight of an auto could cause a commotion, but little did anyone know how unsettling that first view could be for “Poor Excuse.”

It was Friday, April 13, 1900, a day for bad luck, when the Adams Express delivery horse trotted up to the corner of Main and North streets.  A quick glance up the street caused the normally mild-mannered animal to take his owner, B. M. Wells, on a mad dash through the center of Elkton.  The spectacle of a strange machine breezing along had proved too much for the animal.

The driver of the contraption, the first “horseless carriage” seen in the county seat, was making his way between New York and Washington, D.C.   Curious people rushed to the curb to catch a glimpse of the member of the “locomobile Club of America” rolling along.

Mr. & Mrs. Harry Decker pulled up to the Howard House in their automobile in August of that year.  After spending Saturday night there, they got an early start the next morning as the New Yorkers continued on, heading to the Texas oil fields.

These new-fangled machines sometimes were temperamental.  A big red “Panhard (Paris) driven by a 20-horse power gasoline engine” passed through in 1902, but ran out of oil on the outskirts of Elkton.  The tank was refilled at the store of John E. Gonce, the Elkton Appeal reported.

Automobiles were here to stay, and it wasn’t too many more years before passing cars no longer caused a stir.  By August 1905, Harvey Rowland and Lewis Abrahams rode from Port Deposit to Atlantic City in their vehicle in five hours and twenty minutes.  Charles R. Ford owned the first one in Elkton, a fine Pope Runabout in November 1905.  As Ford was learning the “tricks of his new stead”, the Cecil County News wrote, “Good luck to you, Charlie, and may you never slip a cog or run out of gasoline.”  Mr. Carter of Singerly had a fine runabout in August 1906.

Local automobilists became common.  D. J. Ayerst, Dr. H. A. Mitchell and Frank B. Evans turned out in their vehicles for the Elkton Halloween parade in 1911.  A striking feature was “Ayersts’ Cadillac Motor Car, elegantly and strikingly decorated,” according to the Cecil Whig.  Edward W. Taylor bought a new Ford touring car to add to his livery fleet in 1913.

With the auto here to stay, the State of Maryland enacted a registration and licensing law, the first one in Cecil going to Lewis Abrahams of Port Deposit.  “My great uncle Lewis Abrahams who lived till his 84th year in 1964 at Port Deposit . . . was very proud of holding the first license issued for an automobile in the county”, the Rev John J. Abrahams noted several years ago.   “He and my grandfather began the first car dealership in Port.”  Lewis owned a 4-horse-power Locomobile and was issued license no. 502.  In Fair Hill, Edward H. Strahorn owned a n auto, a Thomas B. Jeffery 7 ½ horsepower vehicle, issued license 537.  John E. Good in Perryville had a Peerless Motor Car, holding registration 656

metz automobile
The Metz Automobile sold by E. Balderston & Sons , Colora. source: Cecil Whig, May 22, 1915.

Duyckinch, Sterret & Co. of Rising Sun established the first auto dealership in Cecil County in 1909, handling Hupmobiles, Invincible Schachts, and Oakland Machines.  They had a fine section of Regal Automobile and “everyone was invited to call at the garage to inspect these beauties and see their efficiency demonstrated,” the Midland Journal reported the next year.

Warren Boulden Sr., built a 3-car auto garage in Elkton, opening his business in May 1911.  Carrying a full line of automobile supplies, the Whig added that “Mr. Boulden has given this business a study and is a competent mechanician.”

“Poor Excuse” wasn’t the only one appalled by these contraptions.  In Elkton, Council’s hackles had been raised by speeding automobilists frightening horses and endangering pedestrians so the commissioners adopted an eight MPH speed limit.  Rising Sun decided that 10 MPH was a safe and posted signs reading “automobiles blow your horn at dangerous crossing and curves” in 1911.

Within days of the new law going on the books, the vigilant town officer, Bailiff George Potts, issued Elkton’s first speeding ticket, arresting a Baltimorean.  In Chesapeake City in 1915, the authorities were determined to break up reckless driving, and Bailiff Samuel Biggs arrested five automobilists for failing to sound horns at cross streets.  One of those arrested was Philip L. Garrett, Wilmington attorney for the Delaware Automobile Club.

About this time, the Cecil Whig observed that the reason Port Deposit had far more vehicles than Elkton was simple economics.  Everyone knew that you didn’t make much money practicing law, as wealth came from enterprises such as manufacturing and transportation.

The auto age was on in Cecil.  Click here for additional photos

automobile registration
The State of Maryland drivers license and vehicle registration for Lewis Abrahams of Port Deposit. source: Maryland State Archives.

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Steamer Carmania Served Elkton in 1916

In the early years of the 20th century, steam boating days on the Chesapeake Bay started slipping slowly away.  But in the summer of 1916, Elkton obtained renewed service, as the Philadelphia and Baltimore Steamboat Company (Ericsson Line) launched a new line with connections to Baltimore.

Leading up to the return of a regular schedule on July 1, several arrangements were taken care of. The company bought an attractive steamer, the Carmania, in Mobile, Alabama, to ply the route and leased Jeffers’ Wharf at the foot of Bridge Street.  Last-minute preparations involved cutting a basin near the mill wharf, allowing the boat to turn for the trip back down the winding Big Elk Creek.

Throughout that hot summer before World War I, the Carmania called at Elkton’s tiny port on the Creek.  It departed each morning for Betterton, Chesapeake Haven, and Town Point and returned in the afternoon.  Passengers desiring to go to Baltimore could connect with the Philadelphia boat at Betterton.

There were special evening excursions too.   On a sweltering Wednesday evening in July, she ran a special moonlight cruise, taking people down the river to relieve the intense heat that made the evening uncomfortable.  The Elkton Cornet Band furnished music on the expedition to Town Point.

The boat completed the season for 1916.   It is unclear if some service returned in 1917, but in 1918, a government report noted that line had been abandoned.

Click here to see additional photos — Steam boating Days on the Big Elk Creek

Steamer Carmania Big Elk Creek Elkton
The Steamer Carmania. An unmailed postcard from 1916. (source: personal collection

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An Old House Research Question: When did the Pennsylvania Railroad Move the Dwellings

Pennsylvania Railroad at Cecil County Jail Elkton
The original tracks ran alongside the old Cecil County Jail.

Over time, physical changes occur to a community’s built environment. Most are subtle, as when a backhoe goes to work digging up a new foundation or a bulldozer extends a street so a small parcel of land can be subdivided into building lots.  But as decades pass by more radical transformations occasionally materialize, many of those leaving behind no hint of earlier times.

Between the two World Wars, one of those epic alterations took place in the center of Elkton as the Pennsylvania Railroad electrified the northeast corridor and improved its right-of-way. The significant local enhancements included moving the tracks nearly a quarter of a mile to the north, eliminating dangerous grade crossings, constructing two overhead bridges, the extension of municipal streets, and the erection of a new passenger station.

Once the engineers developed plans to straighten the tracks, the company purchased a great deal of land. In between wrangling for a deal with individual property owners, the PRR negotiated with the town council and the State Highway Administration to get an agreement to eliminate several busy grade crossings and build elevated bridges at North and Bridge streets.

As the plan moved forward, this design disrupted long-established street patterns in the older section of town and reoriented growth toward Elkton Heights, a new development on the edge of the county seat. In the area of North Street, the realignment of the roadway required the Company to acquire a number of residences on either side of the street.  Around August 1931, the PRR sold nine of those recently acquired buildings to local parties, ranging from $300 to $500.  The company had paid as much as $10,000 for some of them, the Cecil Democrat reported.

Several of the houses had been lifted from their foundations in August 1931, and were “being moved intact to what is known as Elkton Heights, about seven hundred feet further north,” the Cecil Democrat reported.  The balance would soon follow, as the new owners had agreed to promptly remove the dwellings.  Two had been bought by John Lawrence of Newark, and one each by Argus F. Robinson, John W. Alexander. W. Holt McAllister, George P. Whitaker, Cecil P. Sentman, Thomas W. Simpers, Taylor W. McKenney, and Robert V. Creswell.  George Moore of Newark and Woodall & Son of Elkton handled the moving contract, the Cecil County News noted.

The work was hastily accomplished as the contractors on this major Great Depression-era public works project anxiously wanted to get the long-delayed project moving. When it was over about 1935, the Pennsylvania Railroad had completed improvements amounting to over $ 1 million locally, not including electrification. Beyond that, street patterns familiar to a generation of people had been altered.  And homes that once lined North Street had been moved to the newest development, Elkton Heights.  Today they continue to line some of the attractive streets in this subdivision, appearing as if they have been there from the first.  There are few traces of the pre-electrification era in Elkton.

Pennsylvania Railroad plan for moving tracks kton in 1930
Pennsylvania Railroad plan for improvements in Elkton, 1930. Source: Hagley Museum and Library

1931 Sanborn map of North Street Elkton
A 1931 Sanborn map showing the new concrete bridge. Source: Historical Society of Cecil County Collection

Postcard of North Street Elkton
A postcard showing a portion of North Street where the changes occurred. C 1920s. photo source: personal collection.

1922 Sanborn map of Elkton showing North Street
A 1922 Sanborn map showing the North Street area before the houses were moved. Source: Historical Society of Cecil County Collection.

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Elkton Police Arrest of Ambassador From Iran Causes International Incident in 1935

Elkton Police Chief Jake Biddle
Elkton Police Chief Jake Biddle in 1935. Source: Baltimore Sun

If there was anything remarkable about that Wednesday in November 1935 in Elkton, it was the new policeman directing traffic on the main thoroughfare from Washington to New York. Seventy-year-old Chief George Potts, having maintained tranquility in the town for twenty-eight years, had recently retired.  The rookie, Jake Biddle, was going to make a fine replacement as the top cop in Cecil County’s largest town and its two-man force, the locals remarked.

Eloping couples were streaming into the courthouse, while the marrying parlors were packed with nearly forty weddings, but that was routine.  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in the White House struggling with the nation’s economic woes.  Far away in the Middle East, the ruler of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi was on the throne, but few people recognized his name.  As far as anyone knew, it was going to be another unremarkable day for the town of 3,000 people.

But once that shiny Packard blasted onto Main Street “at a terrible speed,” the town was caught in an incident involving international law, wounded Iranian dignity, and disruption of diplomatic relations.

Chief Biddle was downtown when he noticed the fast-moving vehicle.  In it was Iran’s ambassador hurrying from Washington to New York for a dinner date, along with his British-born wife, a pet dog, and the chauffeur.  When the policeman gave a blast on the whistle the driver pulled to the curb.  As Biddle walked up to the Packard, he wasn’t put off by the lettering on its side that read “Ghaffar Khan Djalal, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Imperial Majesty the Shah of Iran.”  The diplomatic license plate didn’t register either.

Stories about what happened next vary widely, but whatever the case, the run-in escalated with the Ambassador of Iran. One local paper said, “When Biddle approached the car, the minister, who it is said had been drinking pushed him away, and when Biddle refused to allow the envoy to proceed, he got out of the car and engaged in a scuffle. “  So unruly had the diplomat become that handcuffs were snapped on his wrists, the paper continued.  Constable Clayton Ellison who lived nearby was roused from a catnap by the disturbance so he rushed over to help as did old Chief Potts as a growing crowd watched the tense, unfolding scene downtown.

Producing his State Department credentials and a business card identifying his lofty position, the Persian Prince asked to straighten things out by calling Secretary Cordell Hull, the Far East Desk, or someone in Washington, D.C.  But the officers weren’t letting a little noise distract them from their sworn duty to uphold Maryland Traffic Laws.

At some point, the bunch was carted off to the jail. When it was explained to the jailer that the minister of Iran was involved, he wasn’t impressed either, accustomed as he was to so many marrying reverends in the Gretna Green.  “Minister, eh?  Just another preacher.  Throw ‘em in the cell!” quoted the Associated Press.

Everyone had concluded the same thing.  From the crowd watching the police action to Biddle and the deputy at the jail, it was universally agreed that he was a “marrying minister” trying to grab some of cupid’s lucrative Elkton business.

At the lockup, the ambassador again protesting that his diplomatic immunity was violated, asked to call Washington, but the request was denied. When the lawmen found that the trial magistrate wasn’t available they packed up the group for a trip to North East.  There the justice of the peace, George C. Rawson, thought the situation was a little ticklish so he allowed the Persian representative to call the State Department.  When the Far East duty officer got the judge on the line, the charges were quickly dropped as the magistrate told everyone in the hearing room that a “foreign minister can do no wrong.”

Once the judge determined that not all speeders could be treated equally, it wasn’t long before the Elkton police discovered that they had stumbled upon one of “Washington’s prize foreign squawkers,” as a local newspaper labeled the emissary. Djalal grumbled to New York Papers, saying that the “Elkton police were no diplomats,” or a least that’s what the headline screamed.  As soon as he returned from New York, where he “rushed for an urgent official engagement” he would make a formal complaint with the State Department, he assured newspapermen.

The Shah of Iran was outraged when he heard that police officer grappled with his dignitary . . . snapping the degrading shackles of a criminal on his wrist” as Time reported.  After a protest was lodged, federal investigators took affidavits, followed by closed-door meetings with officials at the highest level of government.  To pacify Iran, the officers, Biddle and Clayton, were convicted of assault and fired, while the president, governor, and mayor issued formal apologies.

It might have all faded into the mist of time, but for an enterprising photographer from the Baltimore Sun. He got three of the lawmen to pose for a picture a few weeks after with a caption reading:  “These gyves [shackles] were snapped on Iran’s Envoy.”  Local authorities thought they could quietly reinstate the officers, but the photograph and their action again grabbed headlines.  This touched off another international incident for an apology was no longer sufficient for the now furious shah.  He ordered the minister recalled, closed the embassy, and evicted U.S. representatives from Persia, breaking off all diplomatic relations with the United States for three years.

Elkton police arrested Iran's ambassador
Following the arrest of the Ambassador of Iran, Cecil County lawmen display the handcuffs used to shackle the ambassador while he was transported to the jail. From L to R: Sheriff Eugene Racine, Constable Clayton Ellison, and Elkton Chief Jake Biddle. source: Baltimore Sun.

So how did the arrest of the Ambassador of Iran end? With the federal government carefully monitoring municipal actions, Biddle quickly hung up his holster and badge at the order of the town council.  The rookie chief returned to farming at a quiet spot far off the main New York to Washington, road traveled by dignitaries.  As for Elkton patrolmen, they steered clear of run-ins with foreign ambassadors or at least we have found any additional references to trouble with the agency in the Journal of International Law.  And diplomats, envoys, and marrying ministers for that matter were likely to use a little more caution when traveling through this corner of northeastern Maryland.

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John Denver, a Past President of the Maryland State Firemen’s Associaton, Talks to the Singerly Listening Station

John Denver (center), in a photo from his time as president of the Maryland State Firemen's Association. HIs two vice-presidents stand with him.
John Denver (center), in a photo from his time as president of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association. HIs two vice-presidents stand with him.

John Denver, a past president of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association, joined the ranks as a probationary member of the Singerly Fire Company in 1968.  Over the decades, he served the company in many positions, and two years ago he served as in the senior leadership position with the State Association.

In this session with the Singerly Listening Station, an oral history project of the Elkton Fire Department, John shares his stories about the company.  This is a brief outtake from a much longer interview, which is being archived for future projects and research purposes.

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Undergraduate Thesis Examines the Cecil County School Integration, 1954-1965

Morris Rannels, Superintendent of Cecil County Schools.
Morris Rannels, Supterintendent of Cecil County Schools., 1952-1960

It is always exciting to obtain fresh perspectives and insights on Cecil County’s past, something that is often provided when scholars take a serious, fresh look at our history.  These thorough investigations, requiring months of intensive digging into original documents and a critical evaluation of the sources, are valuable as they focus on specific research questions and use the highest principles of historical inquiry and analysis to piece together an understanding of things that came before us.

A Washington College graduate, Kyle Dixon, is one of those researchers bringing a scholar’s fresh eye to an unstudied subject, Cecil County School integration.  Seniors at the Eastern Shore college are required to fulfill a senior capstone obligation by conducting a substantial investigation and write a thesis on the subject.

As an American Studies major he launched a study that sought to piece together the story of the integration of public schools in Cecil County.  His Senior Thesis, Standing in the Schoolhouse Door:  The Desegregation of Public Schools in Cecil County, Maryland, 1954 – 1965 was just approved by the American Studies department and has been added to the Eva M. Muse Library at the Historical Society of Cecil County.

His investigation began at the Historical Society as he reviewed the literature on the subject, read newspapers from the era, and studied old school records.  Kyle moved on from that initial survey to visit McDaniel College, which has the papers of Morris Rannels, the county’s superintendent of schools, 1952-1960.  He continued the inquiry by examining the record of the Board of Education at the Cecil County Public Schools Carver Leadership Center, visiting the Maryland Archives, and reviewing sources at the Enoch Pratt Library.

After the historic Supreme Court ruling of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka,  which ruled that legally sanctioned racial segregation in the public schools was a violation of the Constitution’s promise of equal protection, officials throughout the United States struggled with implementation of desegregation.  In Cecil County that matter was more urgent because the county had a major military base, and the attempted admission of African-American students resulted in an immediate test of federal policies.  In the local system racial segregation was the norm, but the military was fully integrated, in accordance with a policy enacted by President Harry Truman and carried on by the Eisenhower’s Secretary of Defense, Charles E. Wilson.

When students headed back to the classroom in September 1954, seven African-American children of navy personnel were denied entry into the Bainbridge Elementary School when they were met at the door by Superintendent Morris Rannels and Principal Mildred Balling.  The administrators instructed the youngsters to report to the “Port Deposit Colored School.”

This early incident involving a facility on federal property resulted in a suit against the Cecil County Board of Education in 1954, and started the county on the long-winding, eleven year trip toward racial equality in public schools.  The Board of Education, at first, instructed professional and legal staff to resist integration.  But as time went on mounting public and judicial pressures, involving the Eisenhower Administration, Department of Navy, the NAACP, the U.S. Attorney General, the press, Maryland Department of Education, and the involved families, increased.

Cecil County School integration suit at Bainbridge
An article on the NAACP’s suit against the Cecil County School in the January 11, 1955, Baltimore Afro-American.

After a federal judge refused to dismiss the civil suit, charging local officials with violating the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the parties agreed to settle the matter out of court, according to the Afro-American.  When the school doors opened next year, it was an integrated facility for Navy personnel. Eventually the Board voted to fully integrate one school, Bainbridge Elementary, and slowly begin the process of opening all facilities to African-American students through a plan of optional integration.

Under the “freedom of choice” system families could request that their children attend another school.   In August 1957, five students made history when the Board of Education approved transfer of Diane Elizabeth Hobday and Janie Mae from George Washington Carver High School to Perryville High; Robert Thomas and David Tipton Hobday from “Port Deposit Colored Elementary School” to Bainbridge Elementary; and Marie Dante Sewell from George Washington Carver Elementary to Chesapeake City Elementary. These are the first documented transfers under the optional system.

Another student made history in June 1960.  Bernard Purdie graduated from Elkton High, becoming the first African American to receive a diploma from an all-white high school.

But the end of separate, overlapping districts for whites and blacks was near by the mid-1960s.  During George Washington Carver High’s 37th commencement exercise on June 8, 1964, nine seniors stepped forward to receive diplomas.  The class of 1964 was last the last one to graduate from Carver as the next autumn African-American teenagers attended the nearest high school.  The elementary school in the same building continued for one more year.

Cecil County School integration was completed, fully, in 1965.  That year, the Board of Education voted to close the last two segregated schools, Levi J. Coppin in Cecilton and Carver Elementary in Elkton.  Youngsters formerly attending classes there reported to the nearest facility in their area when the doors opened in the autumn.

Kyle is also a volunteer at the Historical Society of Cecil County, where he serves as the social media editor, looking out for the county’s history beat on Facebook and Twitter.

Kyle Dixon
Kyle Dixon stands in front of the Levi J. Coppin School, Built for African-Americans in the Cecilton area it opened in 1952. Dr. Thomas G. Pullen, State Superintendent of Schools, and Mrs. Helen Harris, principal, spoke at the dedication, It was one of last two segregated schools in the county before Cecil County School Integration..

 

colored Cecil County schools in 1921
The list of schools and teachers for Cecil County in 1921.
dixon kyle Cecil County School integration and desegregationDownload
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Additional Plans Announced for Remembrance Program on 50th Anniversary of Elkton Plane Crash

mason dixon 097
Memorial for Flight 214

Many in Cecil sighed with relief when 1963, an eventful year full of ups and downs, came to an end.  As people reflected on that November nearly fifty years ago, they recalled the opening of the modern expressway, President John F. Kennedy’s visit, and the unbelievable news flashes eight days later.  An assassin’s bullet had struck the youthful president down in Dallas.  So, as the county grieved and the calendar turned on that troubling month, people thought it couldn’t get any worse.

There were wrong.  On a terrible December night Pan-American World Airways Flight 214 exploded, plunging into a cornfield at the edge of Elkton.  On that cold, rainy Sunday, as lightning periodically illuminated the town, eighty-one people perished when the big plane broke apart in flight and debris rained down on a cornfield.  Hours later, while rescuers combed the wreckage, a county firefighter, Steward W. Godwin of the North East Volunteer Fire Company, suddenly collapsed and died.

This horrifying disaster, the worst airplane crash in Maryland history, is something that is seared into the collective memory of the community, as well as friends and relatives of victims.  People involved in this tragedy will never forget the unusual December thunderstorm and how the fiery blast in the stormy sky suddenly illuminated the town, momentarily turning December darkness into daylight.  Fear, anxiety, and concern swept across the unnerved community as sirens filled the night air with emergency units rushing toward Delancy Road to provide aid to the injured.  It was soon obvious to first responders that the accident wasn’t survivable.

On Sunday, afternoon Dec. 8, 2013, the Singerly Fire Company and the Historical Society of Cecil County will hold a remembrance program to honor the memory of those who lost their lives on a day we will never forget, as well as those who were touched in other ways by the tragedy.  On this date, fifty years after the tragedy altered so many lives, families, emergency responders, and the public are invited to gather and remember the victims and those who answered the call to help.  A complete schedule will be released as the date nears, but since many family members will be traveling a distance, we are providing this preliminary information.

The Rev. Hubert Jicha and retired school superintendent Henry Schaffer will facilitate the program.  Henry, a 16-year-old at the time of the crash, was one of the first responders.  The afternoon will include the sharing of memories, outtakes from the oral history collection, and displays of materials from the Society library.

As part of our mission to chronicle Cecil’s past, our volunteers have been busy creating a remembrance archive.  A major part of this involves interviewing witnesses, residents of the area, and family members and it also involves collecting research materials.  We have already done a lot of work and have found that with the greatest clarity, this searing incident is clearly imprinted on a generation of Cecil County residents.

On Saturday, Dec. 7th, we will open up the Flight 214 listening station.  During half-hour appointments, people will be invited to privately share their stories about the tragedy.  Our oral historians will be at the recording booths, listening to people, asking a few questions, and recording the conversation.  We will add these stories — whatever people want to share — to the archives, as a half-century is passed.

For family members, seeking additional details, we have established a special email address where we will keep you informed as plans progress.  The email is remembrance@cecilhistory.org.  Also since we are planning a private reception for the families, we ask you to contact us by email so we can share some additional information.  But also keep an eye on the blog as we will post routine, regular updates for everyone.

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Remembrance Program Planned to Mark Fiftieth Anniversary of Elkton Plane Crash.

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Singerly Fire Company crews work on recovery the next morning. Rooke firefighter Henry Schaffer is on the right and Chief Spec Slaughter is on the left.

Many in Cecil sighed with relief as 1963, an eventful year full of ups and downs, came to an end.  As people reflected on those events of nearly fifty years ago, they recalled the opening of the modern expressway, President John F. Kennedy’s visit, and the unbelievable news a few days later.  An assassin’s bullet had struck the youthful president down in Dallas.  So as the county grieved and the calendar turned on that unforgettable November they surely thought it couldn’t get any worse.

They were wrong for on a terrible December night Pan-American World Airways Flight 214 exploded, plunging into a field at the edge of Elkton.  On that cold, rainy Sunday, as lightning periodically illuminated the cornfield eighty-one people perished when the big plane broke apart in flight and debris rained down on mostly open land.  Hours later, as rescuers started the grim task of combing the wreckage zone, a county firefighter suddenly collapsed and died.

This horrifying disaster, the worst in Cecil County history, is something that is seared into the collective memory of the community and friends and relatives of victims.  People involved in this tragedy will never forget the unusual December thunderstorm and how the fiery blast in the stormy sky suddenly illuminated the town, momentarily turning December darkness into daylight.  Fear, anxiety, and concern swept across the unnerved community as sirens filled the night air with emergency units rushing toward Delancy Road to provide aid to the injured.  It was soon obvious to first responders that the accident wasn’t survivable.

Next year on Sunday, Dec 8th, 2013, the Historical Society of Cecil County will hold a remembrance program, as it will be fifty years since that tragedy changed so many lives.  To help with the program our volunteers have been busy creating a remembrance archive to add to our holdings.  A major part of this involves interviewing people, and we recently taped Chief Thomas N. McIntire, Jr (retired).  The Elkton police chief and assistant fire chief vividly recalled answering the alarm, as he drove the first fire engine out toward the state line. Riding in the command seat Chief Spec Slaughter had his hands full direting the mobilization of the massive, county-wide emergency response that included units from Delaware.  We have also interviewed Lt. Don Hash (MSP retired), the first police officer to arrive on the scene and will continue with  recordings throughout 2013.

The remembrance program will take place at the Historical Society on Sunday, Afternoon, Dec. 8th, 2013.  The Rev. Hubert Jicha and retired school superintendent Henry Schaffer will facilitate the program.  Henry, a 16-year-old at the time of the crash, was one of the first responders.  The afternoon will include the sharing of memories, outtakes from the oral history collection and displays of material from our Cecil County history and genealogy library.  We have newspapers, the emergency radio communication tape created as Rosemary Culley dispatched the emergency, many photographs, and television news broadcasts.

Chief McIntire twice met with the pilot’s son, Chris Knuth.  His father George F. Knuth piloted the airliner circling in a holding pattern. waiting for clearance to land in Philadelphia, while a storm front passed over the Delaware Valley.   Chris first called the Society back in 1996, saying he wanted to visit the area so we were pleased to help him while he was here.  At the time, the Society arranged for Chris to meet with the chief and Rosemary Culley, the dispatcher.  He met with this duo once again in 2006 as we helped a British video firm produce a documentary about the subject.

We are still working on plans but watch our newsletter, The Inkwell, and our blog for details as we put together this remembrance.  We will keep readers informed as details develop.

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Chief McIntire (retired), center and Chris Knuth, right, son of the Pan American pilot look over the scene of the crash on Delancy Road while documentarians record the scene.