CAMBRIDGE — A wave of pink and green formed among a sea of residents and visitors at the start of a Cambridge City Council meeting on May 20.
The pink-and-green-clad women, members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, had come to the City Council meeting with members of the Caucus of African American Leaders to ask that a resolution regarding the Frederick C. Malkus Jr. Bridge be introduced.
“You may have heard about some of our other members,” said Erma Barron, a former North Atlantic regional director of the sorority. “Coretta Scott King. Maya Angelou. The Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris. And Gloria Richardson.”
Both Alpha Kappa Alpha and the Caucus of African American Leaders asked the City Council to introduce a resolution that calls on Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly to rename the Malkus Bridge for Richardson, a civil rights activist who grew up and spent many years living in Cambridge.
The request brought a variety of comments from residents and commissioners later in the meeting.
This is not the first time this idea has been discussed. In early April, the caucus voted to ask state officials to rename the bridge, citing Malkus’ “resistance to desegregation.”
Malkus, a long-serving state legislator from near Cambridge, was instrumental in finding the funding for the construction of the bridge, which spans the Choptank River between Talbot and Dorchester counties.
In the 1960s, while Cambridge was going through protests against racial discrimination and Freedom Riders challenged the region’s deeply rooted segregation, Malkus’ civil rights voting record largely reflected the segregationist views of his mostly white, rural constituency.
During a presentation for the request, which kicked off the City Council meeting on May 20, Caucus Convener Carl Snowden acknowledged that the decision to rename the bridge ultimately rests with state government.
“But we’re asking for support from local communities and local elected officials to make this request specifically to the governor and others,” he said.
Snowden gave examples of statues in the country that have been taken down due to the views and values of the people they represent.
“Even national government is beginning to look at: Who do we want to name buildings, bridges after? People who divide us or people who bring us together?” he said.
Richardson — best known as the leader of the Cambridge Movement, a struggle for civil rights and economic opportunities for Black people in Cambridge in the early 1960s — met with Attorney General Robert Kennedy and other civil rights activists and government officials in 1963. The meeting resulted in the Treaty of Cambridge, an agreement covering desegregation, housing and employment issues.
“Gloria Richardson stood firm,” Barron said. “She stood strong. And it wasn’t just for herself and for people like me. When you talk about human rights, you’re talking about everyone.”
RESPONSES TO THE PRESENTATION
Although the presence of those in support of the resolution request didn’t go unseen, there were those who felt differently about the proposal.
Resident Terry Wheatley, who worked for Malkus for 23 years, said Malkus loved Dorchester County and, “most importantly,” the people he represented.
Wheatley said that as a lawyer, Malkus had as many Black clients as white clients “because they knew they could trust him.”
Wheatley also spoke about Malkus’ efforts to get funding for the construction of the bridge that now bears his name.
“If Mr. Snowden doesn’t want to cross the Frederick C. Malkus Jr. Bridge, I suggest he stay on the other side,” she said.
Resident Dave Thatcher called naming infrastructure and buildings after people “a sign of the times” and argued that to put an end to the “divisive atmosphere” in the country, infrastructure should no longer be named after people.
“Back when all these old things were named, segregation was rampant,” he said. “White America and Black America. Everything got named after white people. Things have changed. Now they want to name everything after Black people.”
Thatcher recommended the Malkus Bridge be renamed the Choptank River Bridge.
Rather than speak about the bridge named after her father, Betsy Malkus opted to speak about plans for a Juneteenth celebration she is organizing during public comment at the meeting. The event is dedicated to the late Shirley Jackson, who was a trustee on Handsell’s board. Betsy Malkus shared the discovery that 130 United States Colored Troops from Dorchester County were “on the ground” in Texas at the original Juneteenth.
“I just wanted to let you know good news,” she said at the meeting. “I don’t feel like this is the time or place I have other things to say. I’ll do that somewhere else.”
Commissioners also responded to the presentation at the meeting Monday. Commissioner Laurel Atkiss thanked the presenters for coming out and called Richardson a hero and inspiration, later adding that heroes are personal.
“There’s no way that the entire community is ever going to agree on this subject,” she said. “There’s a part of me that really harkens to Mr. Thatcher’s comments about how as long as we’re naming things after people, we’re turning essential infrastructure into monuments for certain people. There’s always going to be some disagreement.”
Commission President Lajan Cephas said she thinks the city should take on the role of being a fact-finder for the state when it comes to the bridge’s name.
“There’s a lot of history and there’s a lot of families on both sides and a lot of ties,” she said. “And I want to be respectful of families.”
Commissioner Sputty Cephas, who said he doesn’t have a position on the bridge’s name, agreed with Atkiss and Lajan Cephas. He also talked about the importance of showing up for other issues affecting Cambridge.
“We have a lot of issues that our Black community, let’s be honest, is struggling with,” he said. “And seeing this support continually, we can make things happen.”
Sputty Cephas mentioned that none of the city’s last three managers have been Black.
“I appreciate this energy, this momentum,” he said. “But let’s keep it going. Not just talk about a bridge that, unfortunately, this legislative body has no authority to change, whether we agree, whether we disagree. But there is a lot more that we could do.”
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