Maryland State Archives

First Draft of the McCready v. Byrd Case Study

D.G. Murray Biography - Draft

Final Version of Gaines Biography

State Board v. Myers Case Study - Draft

Juanita Jackson Mitchell Biography - Draft

Green v. Samuelson Case Study - Draft

Green v. Samuelson Case Study - Final

Warner T. McGwinn Biography - Draft

Warner T. McGwinn Biography - Final

Clark v. Maryland Institute Case Study

W. Ashbie Hawkins Biography Review of Clark v. Maryland Institute Case Study and W. Ashbie Hawkins Biography by Edward Abrams

Mr. Abrams has a very clear and lucid style of writing, which is quite easy to read and comprehend. He has clearly read and absorbed the history and facts of the case and the life of W. Ashbie Hawkins. His citations are frequently from the documents filed for the case, in addition to using newspapers and references to other court cases. The paper flows in logical order with clear breaks between topics. However, his paper suffers from a lack of analysis. There are passages where he begins a deeper level of examination, but does not continue, such as his discussion of Plessy vs. Ferguson or St. Mary's School vs. Brown. In his biography, he could have related the discrimination that Hawkins felt after being removed from the University of Maryland's Law School:" The law school cited to declining enrollment of white law students due to the presence of Hawkins and Dozier. As a result, Hawkins and Dozier were expelled. Dean Poe cited to the "exceedingly low record" of the two students as an apparent justification for their expulsion." to Hawkins' "life long advocate of social equality and justice for African-Americans." His sentences could be more structurally complex. His footnotes are incomplete and in some cases leave blank spaces to be filled in late as if this paper is the rough draft (i.e. Appellees Brief at ____). One sentence ("Many time throughout his career, Hawkins represented the Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of Free And Accepted Mason of Maryland.") could be removed from his biography, because it does not fit into the paper and occupies, slightly over a line of text. Also, there are occasional typing mistakes and one passage where the present tense and past tense are used interchangeably, when it is not necessary. Overall, the paper is an excellent discussion of a complex case, but needs to be strengthened by analysis and comparison.

Durkee v. Murphy Case Study

Robert P. McGuinn Biography

Vaughns v. Board of Education Case Study

Gerald A. Smith Biography - Nothing Posted

State v. Jenkins Case Study - Final Draft

Case Study - Appendix

Case Study as a Word Document (OCR)

George W.F. McMechen Biography - Draft

George W.F. McMechen Biography - Final

Jackson v. State - Draft

Jackson v. State - Draft

Jackson v. State - Final

Cornelius Fitzgerald Biography - Draft

Cornelius Fitzgerald Biography - Draft

Cornelius Fitzgerald Biography - Final

Mentor: Alyssa Williams

Case Study: Green V. Samuelson

Ms. Mount presented a clearly organized paper, which was well written, and sufficiently grounded in the primary documents we provided her on the case. Although I only saw Ms. Mount come into the Archives twice to view her case materials, she made a good use of the extensive three volume court transcript, the original bill of complaint and the original court decision. I am assuming that she figured out how to operate teachersmd and made good use of the materials we posted.

I was impressed with her presentation of the case, although she never seemed to offer much of a critical argument. Which was why I was somewhat disappointed with both her introduction and the conclusion. I examined the www.sage.edu/SAWSJ/buy1.htm site, which she quoted extensively for her background on both Costonie and Black Baltimore in the 1930’s. While it appeared to be an article which I found out after a bit of searching had been condensed from Skotones’ thesis, the actual document which is posted to the cite does not specifically cite any of its sources. This seemed like a deficiency that Ms. Mount should have examined, even if it was just to have found either the original article or thesis in order to verify there were citations and even just for curiosity to examine a few of those sources for her case study.

It would have been nice if she had included more than one background source as well. Although it seems she was lucky to find such a nice secondary source on the "Buy Where You Can Work" boycott, she could have found many more sources to provide her with a more diverse literature review about the African American community in Baltimore during the 1930’s. Ms. Mount’s conclusion was a better attempt than the background study with the use of the Afro American Articles, but the final conclusion seemed a bit abrupt, especially as it related to how or if this boycott/picketing movement affected subsequent efforts in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Over all, however, I thought she did a nice job creating a very readable paper.

Biography: Warner T. McGuinn

Mentor: Alyssa Williams

I thought Ms. Mount did a good job on her Biography as well. It was a clear and concise narrative, which made a good use of the information we had already provided her, as well as Afro American, and Baltimore Sun articles, which were not used for the Archives bio. The bio was well written and well annotated and I thought Ms. Mount did a nice job covering all of the notable events in McGuinn's live. While her footnotes were easy to follow, it would have useful if Ms. Mount had presented a complete works cited page at the end of both the biography and the case study. She also never seemed to use the complete MSA citation for any of the sources we provided her. Overall, however, I thought she made a good effort at putting together the biography of McGuinn.

Biography: Cornelius C. Fitzgerald

Mentor: Jamal Booker

Mr. Williams begins with a fitting quote that rolls into a very good introductory piece serving as his strategy for his biographical report. He starts out with solid assertions on measuring accurately the life of "legal minds", going on to call Cornelius Fitzgerald arguably one of the nation's "Greatest legal minds." As Mr. Williams attempts to prove this, he touches on the important issue of the significance of "Grassroots-type" leaders, including Fitzgerald in this sub-category. In this introduction he very clearly carves out his goals of the biography and proceeds to follow those tracks.

This writing was actually enjoyable to read, as it is evident that plenty of time and research was put in to contribute the many facts included. Throughout, there are plenty of footnotes detailing the plenty sources utilized (MSA and beyond), indicating Pratt library newspapers, various books, and various MSA resources (marriage record, etc.). What impressed me was the very good uses of the MSA research tool The Road from Frederick to Thurgood: Black Baltimore in Transition 1870-1920. Mr. Williams effectively incorporates several quotes from the website that nicely tie into his biography to give more depth to the movements of Mr. Fitzgerald and his surroundings (in Baltimore).

The cohesive element in the biography is the way Mr. Williams provides indication of a congruent movement between Mr. Fitzgerald and the Black Rights Movement. Mr. Williams describes Mr. Fitzgerald's role as a "'Foot soldier' pursuing the day-to-day legal objectives of the community." He continues, "The diligent - and often unheralded - commitment of Cornelius C. Fitzgerald to his community is what constitutes the true story of Black progress in the early 20th century." Mr. Williams parallels the walks of Mr. Fitzgerald and his five siblings. As the seeds of hard working Black parents, all made strides for Black progress in the Black struggle, all moving from Tennessee to Baltimore (except one). There was an insurance salesman, a physician, a pharmacist, (another) attorney, and a mortician. Hinting at the Fitzgerald family as a microcosm for the larger migration of Blacks, coupled with the progress of Blacks, Mr. Williams writes (of the brothers' migration), "It can be speculated...that several factors came together to create this social dynamic. Baltimore was the city that presented the greatest number of upward mobility opportunities for blacks nationwide."

Mr. Williams didn't go beyond a biography, but he did not jut list the facts. He organized the biography in a very interesting manner by pointing an angle at it. He laid out his purpose: to illustrate the measure of Mr. Fitzgerald as a "Great legal mind" with social and professional affiliations. And he achieves this measure with a well plotted-out history and a professional resume of Mr. Fitzgerald that heralded a "Dual purpose": One that kept him "grounded in the community and permitted him to pursue his philosophical and social interest."

Case Study: Vaughns V. Board of Education

Mentor: Jamal Booker

I am assuming that the paper uploaded by Mr. Scott is a rough draft, so I have not given it a full evaluation. There are only two pages that came up on the computer, there are some puunctual errors and the paper is broken into 14 subtopics - with only three of them covered. Of the provided material, there were references to the annotated code, and other sources, making it seem that research has been done elsewhere as we had little to offer at MSA. Each topic is the court's decision in each of the proceedings in the case, showing signs of a skeleton that seems to be headed down the direction of good analysis, but what is posted is just that- a skeleton.

Case Study: Jackson v. State

Mentor: Jamal Booker

Mr. Williams introduces us to this case study with the beefy contention that this very case put down the grounds for a national precedent. "Baltimore's ordinance prompted the nation, for the first time," he maintained, "to examine its position on Blacks and Whites engaging one another in the private arena of property interests," using Jackson v. State on a national front, drawing the relationship between the case and America's segregation/integration deliberations. He says, "The Maryland case of Jackson v. State played an integral part in the development of a social and legal movement that resulted in the Supreme Court's 1917 decision - abolishing government ordinances promoting racial segregation in residential communities."

The timeline that is the blueprint of this study has good background information to start the body of the argument, with the subject matter of housing segregation, (or the lack thereof), earlier than 1911 in Baltimore. Mr. Williams incorporates the Black departure from the south with the next date in the line covering the migration and poverty, which equals the rise of crime, then Whites leaving the mixed residential areas. Next, he ties in the Black Yale graduate George W. McMehan's decision to move into an upscale neighborhood in Baltimore, and the reactions and the legislation (following). All of these events are very good buildup in that stretch of time preceding Jackson v. State. Lastly, the Gurry case challenging Baltimore law was the last main thrust. Mr. Williams reiterates his local-national focus, writing, "By the mid-summer of 1914, the movement against racial segregation had moved beyond the point of grassroots organizing and transformed into a well-focused national strategy."

There was ample material referenced from various sources, few at MSA. The Court of Appeals brief was used, as well as Lexis, the African American Ledger, and a Baltimore City Ordinance that I got from a Baltimore City source. He validates his argument with the impact of the litigation: "Jackson v. State's claim to legal notoriety is as one case, in a line of cases, that represented the victorious culmination of a local and national battle for social equality.

Sean's two weaknesses are in style and analysis. There are numerous grammatical errors and the papers are choppy and some sentences are unclear. In some sentences it was not clear whether he was recounting the lawyers' arguments or making his own, and the reader has to make inferences from the context. Sean was good at tracing the facts of the cases but there was very little if any of his own analysis. The paper would be strengthened by a discussion of the cases within the wider context of the social and legal aspects of the civil rights movement in Maryland and the United States. Sean needs to draw a clear conclusion as to the impact these cases had on the civil rights movement and to answer the question of whether the cases had any long-term legal significance (ie. cited in later cases).
Karen