Civil Rights In Baltimore In Images Of America
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States was national in scope. But it also was particular and had a sense of place as civil rights were contested and had to be won in countless communities, large and small. So too, the Movement did not begin with the 1954 Supreme Court decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" or with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the social activism of the 1950s and 60s. These events would not have occurred without decades of preparation.
Phillip J. Merrill's book, "Baltimore and the Civil Rights Movement" (2023) offers a Civil Rights history with a strong sense of place -- set in the large city of Baltimore. The book also offers a look at civil rights in Baltimore over time, beginning in 1890 and concluding with the years following the 1968 assassination of Dr. King. The book is part of series of local American histories published by Images of America. The author, Phillip J. Merrill, is a historian, entrepreneur, and consultant who has written an earlier outstanding book, "Old West Baltimore" for Images of America.
This book has a tone of love and passion for its place and its subject that is set in the brief Foreword by the author's mother, Rev.Betty Jackson Merrill. The author himself then points out in the Introduction the importance of Black History as an integral part of the history of the United States. A feeling of enthusiasm and love come through in this book. There is a feel for overcoming prejudice and Jim Crow in a story Merrill tells without anger or bitterness.
Merrill is a collector and. as in "Old West Baltimore", he makes extensive use of memorabilia in telling his story. The memorabilia includes materials such as handwritten letters, political posters, business documents, tickets for events, programs for sporting and cultural events and for funerals and more. These are unusual materials for a history and give a feel of particularity to his account. They add to the many images of people and places that constitute most of the book. Merrill offers introductory information and commentary to help the reader understand and place the images in their context.
The book reminds the reader of the pervasiveness of Jim Crow in Baltimore. It was ever-present during the time covered by this book in segregated housing patterns, employment, education, religion, government, and social and cultural life. The book shows as well how the Black community both worked internally to improve itself and also advocated and fought for social change and an end of Jim Crow. The book discusses figures who would become important nationally, including the future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, people with local reputations, and many people who contributed to the broad Civil Rights Movement in Baltimore who remain unsung and little known.
The book's five chapters cover people and organizations over the years. The opening chapter covers the period 1890 -- 1920, or what Merrill terms the "Progressive Era". Baltimore had a large, vibrant Black population at this time, including professionals such as clergymen, doctors, lawyers, and educators. Baltimore's Black population took steps both locally and nationally to improve their condition. Subsequent chapters cover the 1920's, which saw the election of two African Americans to the Baltimore City Council, the years of the Depression, which witnessed an increase in civil rights litigation and in activism. The years of the New Deal from the early 1940s to "Brown", the Movement years from 1955- 1968 with sit-ins and protests and the March on Washington, and the period following 1968. The book offers a moving picture of Baltimore's civil rights history over the years in work that still remains unfinished.
I enjoyed visiting the Baltimore Civil Rights Movement with Merrill. His book takes the story of a crucial part of American history and ties it convincingly to a particular place.
