In Slavery's Shadow: Surveying Montgomery County Public School Names
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Authors
Buglass, Ralph
Issue Date
2023-10
Relation
Vol. 67;No. 1
Language
en_US
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Abstract
REVISED EDITION as of February 2024: “Records reveal 3 MCPS high schools named after slave owners” proclaimed a headline in the Watkins Mill High School student newspaper in 2018, garnering attention by major media and Montgomery County Public Schools officials about facilities named for historical figures who held enslaved people. Subsequent research has shown the actual number to be eight, including the county’s namesake, Richard Montgomery.
This issue of The Montgomery County Story provides biographical snapshots of the eight school namesakes, contextual background on slavery in Montgomery County, a general survey on the naming (and previous renamings) of Montgomery County's public schools through the years, and a brief roundup of other recent area renamings stemming from increased scrutiny of past racism. Also included is a list of school names with indirect ties to slavery. As the foremost repository of the county’s deep, intricate, diverse, and sometimes difficult history, Montgomery History takes no position on possible renamings but seeks only to present the historical record as clearly as possible in the interest of greater public awareness and understanding.
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Montgomery History