College of Education to Sponsor May 5 Symposium to
Commemorate 50^th Anniversary of Supreme Court’s
Brown vs. Board of Education Ruling

COLLEGE PARK, MD (April 2004) — The historic events that led to the desegregation of Prince George’s County Public Schools will be brought to life at a special College of Education symposium planned for May 5 to commemorate the "Brown versus Board of Education" Supreme Court ruling.

The symposium is titled: Historical Context and Reasoned Reflection: Prince George’s County and College of Education Connections. The event is from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the University Golf Course. College of Education faculty, staff and students, campus and community members are invited to attend this symposium and the reception that follows. Special music for the symposium will be provided by an acapella singing group from Eleanor Roosevelt High School, The Suspenders, under the direction of vocal music director Barbara Baker and Joanna Krupnick.

The purpose of the symposium is to discuss the historic events leading to the desegregation of the Prince George’s County Public Schools and the College of Education through the Institute for Child Study. The founder of the Institute, Daniel Prescott, led efforts to offer degree programs to African-American students who wanted to enroll at the University of Maryland. These events, along with historic social and political changes in the state and nation, helped to transform the the College of Education from a segregated unit to a more inclusive institution. The panel discussion will feature former County board members, area education leaders, Institute for Child Study faculty, College of Education staff and prominent alumni. This symposium will provide an opportunity to interact with the historic figures who worked for school desegregation and equity throughout the education system, despite tremendous opposition and personal threats.

Members of the dicussion panel played significant leadership roles in the desegregation process. The panelists includes representatives from the University of Maryland College of Education and Prince George’s County leaders:

Joel Carrington is a distinguished Maryland educator who has served in numerous roles both in the Baltimore City Public Schools and in the University of Maryland system. He was a teacher and administrator in Baltimore City for 35 years. He served as principal of Walbrook High School, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and was Regional Superintendent of Baltimore City Schools for 10 years. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University, his master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University, and doctorate from the University of Maryland’s College of Education in 1970. The title of his dissertation reflects his interest and commitment to the issues surrounding the Brown v. Board of Education decision: "The History of Desegregation in the Baltimore City Public Schools: 1952-1966". He served as a member of the Maryland Board of Regents, the Board of Health and Higher Education Facilities, and is currently a member of the College of Education Board of Visitors.

G. James Gholson holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Hampton University. He was the first Principal of Fairmont Heights High School and served from 1950 to 1969. Fairmont Heights was opened in 1950 as Fairmont Heights Junior-Senior High School. It was one of two high schools for African-American students in Prince George’s County and replaced the Lakeland High School. He then became assistant to George Robinson, Assistant Superintendent for the Administration and Supervision of Secondary Education in Prince George’s County. From 1972 to 1973, he was Special Assistant to the Ssuperintendent for desegregation of the Prince George’s County Public Schools. In that position, he designed and implemented the plan for the desegregation of the county schools. He served as Assistant Superintendent for Administration of Northern Area Prince George’s County Public Schools from 1973 to 1979. He has served as a consultant with schools in Louisville, Ky., New Castle, Del., Indianapolis, Ind., Laurel, Miss., and the mayor’s office in Seattle, Wash. Recently, the G. James Gholson Middle School in Landover was named to honor Gholson’s pioneering work.

Joanne T. Goldsmith of Owings Mills, Md., was a member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education during the period of desegregation of the county schools. She was the first woman to chair the Maryland State Board of Education and the first woman to chair the National Association of State Boards of Education. She currently serves on the Board of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) and is a member of the Board of Directors of Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham. Goldsmith is also chair of the Legislative Task Force of the Maryland Hospital Association. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Goldsmith was the Executive Director of the National Coalition for Public Education and Religious Liberty, Vice President for John Hanson Savings Bank and Director of Community Relations for Doctors Community Hospital. She is a member of the College of Education Board of Visitors.

Lucy B. Warr has lived in Prince George’s County since 1950. Part of the activist Warr family, Lucy Warr was the first African-American woman to serve as a judge in Prince George’s County, and her husband, Jesse Warr, was the first African-American elected to the Prince George’s County Board of Education. Lucy Warr worked initially in Orphans’ Court and then became Maryland’s first female Chief Judge in 1986. As a volunteer, she has worked as a campaign chairman for State Delegate Albert R. Wynn, and has served on several boards, including Family Service, Model Cities Day Care Association, National Conference of Christians and Jews, and is a life member of the NAACP. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from LeMoyne College, did graduate work at Howard University School of Social Work, and earned Certificates of Completion from the National Judicial College in Nevada and the National College of Probate Judges in Virginia. She retired in August 2000.

Rose Wiseman is a resident of Annapolis, Md. Now 88 years old, her life and career is a remarkable testament to her courage and perseverance. With the support of her late husband, Dr. Joseph Alexander Wiseman, she was among the first three African-Americans to be awarded a masters degree on June 9, 1951, from the University of Maryland. It was quite a journey to that momentous occasion for Wiseman, who grew up in in rural Maryland. She was married in 1937 and taught in Charles County until 1939. After earning a bachelors degree from Hampton, she returned to Charles County and taught until 1942. Her late husband encouraged her to pursue a new program through the University of Maryland that offered African-Americans the opportunity to enroll in off-campus, in-service education studies to earn a master’s degree. Daniel Prescott, who founded the Institute for Child Study in 1947 in the School of Education, coordinated efforts to offer classes to students at various levels in the child study program. Wiseman and two other students were the only African-Americans who completed the fourth-year program offered through summer studies at Bowie State. On her graduation day she and her two colleagues participated in the ceremony. The ceremony had already started when, she recalls, "The three of us, Mrs. Myrtle H. Wake, Baltimore; John F. Davis, Clinton, Maryland; and Mrs. Rose Wiseman, stepped onto the campus for the first time into the gap left for them in line." They marched across the squishy grass (it had rained the night before) to the exercises on the green. University of Maryland President H. Curly Byrd conferred the degrees with Gov. Theodore McKeldin and Baltimore City Mayor Thomas D’Alessandro, Jr., in attendance. In recognition of her unique role in helping shape the university history, the College of Education bestowed its first Dean’s Award for Lifetime Achievement on Wiseman last November, and this April, she was honored by the Unviersity of Maryland Alumni Association with the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award for the College of Education.

Ruth S. Wolf lives in St. Leonard, Md. Among her many leadership and volunteer positions, Wolf was appointed by then Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be a member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education from 1968 to 1973, and served as President from 1970 to 1971. Wolf served as President of the Prince George’s County League of Women Voters from 1959 to 1962 and 1960 to 1963. She served on the board of directors from 1955 to 1963. She was a member of the Prince George County Community Action Committee (Anti-Poverty Agency) from 1965 to 1971 and chaired the county’s Hospital and Health Facility Needs Study Council from 1964 to 1966. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her civic endeavors. She holds an R.N. degree from New York University College of Medicine, and was a U.S. Army Cadet Nurse in 1945, and attended Hunter College from 1939 to 1942 and Syracuse University in 1946.

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