Frederick Douglass

EASTON --More than three years after winning a bitter fight to place a statue of Talbot County's most illustrious native son - abolitionist Frederick Douglass - here on the courthouse lawn, the grass-roots group that is leading the drive has raised only about half the money it needs. The sculptor who was selected to create the statue complains that he doesn't have a contract in hand or a check to reimburse him for money he's spent on travel and designing models. "I've been working for three years and haven't made a nickel.

Jacques Melvin LeBrun, 69, advertising executiveJacques "Jack" Melvin LeBrun, a retired advertising executive, died of a heart attack Thursday at home in Timonium. He was 69.After serving in the Navy during the Korean War, he joined Reuben H. Donnelly Advertising Corp., a national firm later acquired by Yellow Book. After 29 years, he retired as manager for the mid-Atlantic region in 1990.The Baltimore native graduated from Dundalk High School in 1947, and enlisted in the Navy in 1950. An aviation electronics and radar expert, Mr. LeBrun flew many missions as a crew member on a P2V, or spy plane.

State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli said yesterday he will review whether NAACP President Kweisi Mfume violated state elections laws by voting in Baltimore while living in Baltimore County.Reacting to news reports, Montanarelli agreed with state election administrators that the issue is murky because Mfume -- who is being promoted as a mayoral candidate in the city -- had owned city property and never switched his voter registration to his new address in the county.Under state election laws, voting in an election district or precinct without having the "legal right" is considered "false voting," a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to $2,500 in fines or up to five years in prison.

Highland Beach was not a Civil War battleground, but the Chesapeake Bay resort town just southeast of Annapolis -- the first in the United States for blacks -- in itself is a monument to the freedom blacks fought for in the war.Today, in the pine-paneled rooms that escaped-slave-turned-abolitionist Frederick Douglass designed for his relaxation, residents of the historic and exclusive black community will celebrate their ancestors' place in Civil War and...

Hunched over a table in the archaeological lab, Richard B. Hughes studied a map of the Eastern Shore, then slowly traced property lines with his finger until he reached the spot he believes holds buried artifacts capable of solving his latest mystery.Hughes has narrowed his search to about 200 acres of farmland, where he expects to find remnants of a small, windowless cabin built of wood, clay and straw -- the birthplace of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.So far, he has turned up only a few oyster shells, some nails and pieces of ceramic glass that date to the right period -- about 1818.

Black history museum would enhance BaltimoreI want to add my voice to the growing list of Marylanders who are thrilled that our state and city are going forward with plans to open another cornerstone museum of local and American history, the proposed Maryland African-American history museum. To be located on "museum row" at Pratt and President streets -- perhaps adjacent to a revitalized City Life Museums complex -- this museum would help anchor a heritage district that could better acquaint us with our divergent but intertwined American histories.

Starting more than a century ago, at a time of segregated beaches, the picturesque community of Highland Beach on the Chesapeake Bay has been a summer haven for prominent African-Americans.During the past 20 years, though, what began as the country's first black resort town has gradually turned into a mostly year-round community with residents looking for more than sun, waterfront cookouts and dances on hot summer nights.That means the mayor of the municipality has a lot more to do.And that's why newly re-elected Highland Beach Mayor Raymond L. Langston emphasized at his swearing-in last week that, in addition to preserving and publicizing the town's history, as he had in the past, he intends to aggressively lobby state and Anne Arundel County officials for money to upgrade town facilities.

Visitors to Annapolis' Banneker-Douglass Museum last week may have been confused by a sign posted on the museum door. It announced that the institution would be closed through Nov. 12, and gave no explanation.The sign should have specified the museum is temporarily closed while staff members are putting up the next exhibit, said Carroll Hynson Jr., chairman of the state-appointed commission that oversees the museum on Franklin Street in the city's historic district.The exhibit -- "In His Words: The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass" -- will run from Saturday through March 11, said Hynson, who heads the Commission on African-American History and Culture.

PHILADELPHIA -- In a sense, history was made at the 105th Penn Relays yesterday when a combination of driving rain and lightning forced a total halt to the meet for the first time in anyone's memory. And there are people here who's been coming to the relays for six decades.But the wretched conditions had little effect on Baltimore area competitors, since most of them had finished their work by the time of the deluge.On two occasions, totaling nearly 1 3/4 hours, meet officials suspended competition.

Thomas L. Saunders has always had a knack for drawing crowds to his productions, but in Baltimore's booming tourist industry he is still the little kid on the block.In May, his home-based African-American Grand Renaissance tour was nominated for the Baltimore Academy of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality's "Attraction Professional of the Year" award along with the Maryland Science Center, ESPN Sports Zone, the National Aquarium and Port Discovery. He lost to the science center's IMAX theater.

There was Michael Steele on national TV the other day, slamming Baltimore's Frederick Douglass High School for failing black kids, the same ones he failed after making a dramatic personal vow three years ago to get the school fixed. And there was Doc Cheatham on local radio yesterday, announcing he'd gotten the Maryland Historical Society to take down a monkey mural because he thought the stripes on the animals' heads looked like cornrows. You have to wonder which America needs more: public figures who raise real issues but do nothing about them, or those who get silly things done.

City schools chief Andres Alonso publicly asked Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele last night to apologize for making disparaging remarks about Frederick Douglass High School on national television. A spokesman for Steele, Maryland's former lieutenant governor, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In February 2006, Steele visited Douglass in West Baltimore, holding it up as an example of the failures of urban education and making a personal commitment to turn the school around.

Environmental education programs offered Annapolis Recreation & Parks is offering environmental educational programs at the newly renovated, city-owned Back Creek Nature Park at 1314 Edgewood Road. The urban ecology park offers recreation, education and a living classroom. Public programs will be offered that are geared for children ages 3 to 10 for $5 per class. Scheduled courses, 90 minutes long, include: * "Extreme Shoreline Strategies" at 3 p.m. today: Learn how to protect the shoreline.

Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln By John Stauffer Twelve / 432 pages / $30 Frederick Douglass didn't think much of Abraham Lincoln's assertion in 1862 that blacks were the cause of the Civil War or his plan to send as many of them as possible to the republic of Colombia. The innocent horse does not make the horse thief, Douglass fumed. It is "the cruel and brutal cupidity of those who wish to possess horses, or money, and Negroes" that ought to be blamed.

Can a patriot say "God damn America"? The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.'s use of such language led to questioning of his patriotism - and that of his most famous parishioner, Sen. Barack Obama. Mr. Wright's defenders (especially the academic ones) immediately compared his invective to the words of the great abolitionist orator, Frederick Douglass, as they scrambled to situate the pastor within an African-American prophetic tradition rich with fiery vituperation and bitter railings. The most-cited passage from Douglass' political sermon, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," seems to confirm the parallel: "To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license ... your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.

They gave us the bullet to save themselves; they will give us the ballot to save themselves. - Frederick Douglass Unfortunately, the nation did not feel as indebted to black Americans as Douglass suggested it would. Perhaps the great ex-slave orator, abolitionist and native Marylander was not as confident as he sounded. He may have found it more politic to suggest that white America would do the right thing if only to repay black soldiers who fought on the Union side. But there was no immediate indication Americans believed their system was endangered by withholding the franchise.

Few big-studio movies that are lavishly promoted and favorably reviewed arrive dead on arrival at the box office. But Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan's volcanically funny spoof of musical biopics like Coal Miner's Daughter failed to attract audiences from its first showings a week ago. Could it be that audiences just don't want to see wiseacre moviemakers lampoon Very Important Movies? From that delicious parody of airborne disaster pictures, Airplane!, to the abysmal Scary Movie spoofs of horror films, audiences have lined up to see stupid plot conventions shot down.

EASTON --More than three years after winning a bitter fight to place a statue of Talbot County's most illustrious native son - abolitionist Frederick Douglass - here on the courthouse lawn, the grass-roots group that is leading the drive has raised only about half the money it needs. The sculptor who was selected to create the statue complains that he doesn't have a contract in hand or a check to reimburse him for money he's spent on travel and designing models. "I've been working for three years and haven't made a nickel.

On May 20, 2007, FREDERICK DOUGLASS. On Wednesday, friends may call at Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Services (East) 4905 York Road where the family will receive friends from 3-8 P.M. On Thursday, services will be held at Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Chapel, 4905 York Road where the family will receive friends from 10 -10:30 A.M., with services to follow. Inquiries to 410-433-7500.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS Remember the legacy of Frederick Douglass Saturday at the Maryland Institute College of Art and catch a viewing of the 1994 PBS documentary Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History. After the viewing, Dr. Diane Swann-Wright, director of the Frederick Douglass Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Living Classrooms, will lead a discussion on the former slave, abolitionist and Maryland native. She will compare Douglass' views on violence in pre-Civil War Maryland with the violence of today.