Howard County Celebrates 50 Years of School Desegregation

November 11th, 2015

On the evening of Sunday, Nov. 8, the Howard County Center of African American Culture hosted a 50th anniversary celebration of the desegregation of Howard County public schools. Today, Howard County is considered a model community, known for welcoming families of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Our county and school system have come a long way, and many people struggled for years to integrate our school system and instill the inclusive practices that we value today.

In 1954, the Supreme Court delivered the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision that outlawed public school segregation by race. All HCPSS grades were desegregated by 1964, but segregated schools remained and many black students were educated in facilities with no white students. After an impassioned statement to the Board requesting an end to all segregated schools and with two new Board members as a result of a recent expansion, the Board voted to integrate Guilford Elementary School in June 1965 and the era of segregated public schools in Howard County ended.

In 2012, the HCPSS Board of Education officially apologized for its role in slowing the desegregation of the Howard County Public School System. In attendance were many who lived through the era of segregated schools, as well as students of our current schools. It is imperative that our students understand our past, both the celebratory and the shameful, in order to appreciate the diverse classrooms that they have the good fortune to attend today.

The dinner event this past weekend, with hundreds of guests, included public recognitions and awards, presentations, historical reflections by community members, and performances by Howard County high school students.

Speakers at the event included Allan H. Kittleman, Howard County executive; Dr. Janet Siddiqui, Howard County Board of Education chairman; Ann De Lacy, Howard County Board of Education vice chairman; Dr. Renee A. Foose, Howard County Public School System Superintendent; Dr. Everlene Cunningham, Howard County Center of African American Culture board member; Roger Barnes, Howard County Equal Business Opportunity Commission member; Dr. Mark Stout, coordinator, HCPSS Advanced Placement and Secondary Social Studies; and student musicians.

To learn more about the history of desegregation in Howard County schools, read the guest blog post by Dr. Mark Stout, coordinator, HCPSS Advanced Placement and Secondary Social Studies.

To view photos of the event, visit the HCPSS Flickr account.