About the Mural

The beautiful piece of public art which now stands at the corner of Church Street and Business Route 13 may have taken a couple of months to paint, but it is the product of more than a century of history made right here in Salisbury, by a resilient community which has historically been under-served. Once known as “Georgetown,” the neighborhood which surrounded this site was all but erased from the map to make way for Route 13. This mural, and the small park which surrounds it, were created with the input and cooperation of the people who live and work in the surrounding neighborhood.

About the Artist

Paul “Sketch” Boyd III was born and raised in Salisbury. Boyd’s design company, Seven Digits and Running Studios, brings urban influence to portraiture, interior design, and fashion. Boyd’s work can be found in homes and businesses around Salisbury, and even in the offices of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in New York City. His mural design was informed by the book ‘Round the Pond, the Georgetown Neighborhood of Salisbury, Maryland written by local historian, Linda Duyer. Inspired by stories of prominent African-American citizens from throughout Salisbury’s history, Boyd’s vision was to create a vibrant and joyous work that invoked the limitless possibility of the future, yet also payed reverence to the community icons who laid the way for his generation.

About Edward H. Nabb Research Center at SU:

The Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University is a humanities research laboratory for university students that also fulfills the historical resource needs of a variety of community researchers. Founded in 1982, it was endowed in 1998 by Edward H. Nabb, an attorney and philanthropist from Cambridge, Maryland and renamed in his honor. Learn more on their website.

Resources:

Salisbury African American History

General Research

• Search and browse Eastern Shore historical newspapers, 1745-1922
• Search and browse photograph collections
• Search and browse transcriptions, oral histories, manuscripts, and more
• Search books and microfilm

Sample of Sources

• Houston Cemetery ledgers, 1915-1937
• Segregation/desegregation in Salisbury oral history interview playlist
• Resource guide on racial terror lynchings on Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore
• Local African American history newspaper clippings (continually being added to)
• Circa 1917 letter from African American community to Mayor IE Jones
• 1922 letter to Thomas L. Parker regarding school conditions for African American students
• Somerset County (before Wicomico County) certificates of freedom

Linda Duyer

Last November our community lost one of its most beloved and revered storytellers. Linda Duyer began her research work in Salisbury in 1990 by documenting African American cemeteries and communities in our area. She was an integral part of the planning and execution of the Rt. 13 Mural, located at the corner of Church Street and Rt. 13. In fact, just a few months before she passed, wrote this article: https://bit.ly/2Upmv3S for the Salisbury Independent entitled ‘Imagining What Salisbury was Like 100 Years Ago.’

Blog: https://aahistorydelmarva.wordpress.com/

Flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmSyCv1C

Finding aid for archival collection: http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/local-history-archives/2012.021

• The history of the Donelson family on Delmarva / By Linda Duyer ; foreword by AJ Donelson and Dr. G. Ray Thompson. (2019)
• By foot or by wheel : exploring the history of downtown Salisbury, Maryland (2017)
• Mob law on Delmarva : cases of lynchings, near-lynchings, legal executions, and race riots of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia 1870-1950 (2014)
• ’Round the pond : Georgetown of Salisbury, Maryland : a history of the Georgetown and Cuba neighborhood communities collectively known as Georgetown (2007)
• One kind favor ; see that my grave’s kept clean (1997)

Wicomico Truth and Reconciliation Initiative

The Wicomico Truth and Reconciliation Initiative is a local movement that seeks to address our community’s history of white supremacy through education and advocacy. They are working closely with the Salisbury Lynching Memorial Task Force to establish a memorial for the three individuals who were killed at the hands of lynch mobs in Wicomico County.

Connect with the Initiative on Facebook

Black Owned Business Network

Maryland Eastern Shore Black Business Directory (published by the Delmarva African American Pride Magazine)

Delmarva Black Owned Businesses (published by Alison Foster, former Mayor’s Office Intern)

Nurturing and supporting our local Black owned businesses is essential to empowering members of our black community. During a time of uncertainty due to the pandemic, some people are without jobs, childcare, and in some cases even housing. Supporting a Black owned business doesn’t have to cost anything though, and here are a few ways you can show support for FREE:

1. Share a post of their’s on social media
2. Like a post
3. Tell a friend or family member about the business
4. Give them a shout out
5. Give them a positive review on Google or Yelp
6. Comment/interact with a post

The vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race. Visit their website to learn about how you can donate, volunteer, become a member, and take action.

Connect with our local branch on their Facebook Page.

Check out the feature we did last year on NAACP Branch 7028’s new President, Dr. Brante Dashiell!

The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.

The City of Salisbury is proud to be working with the Equal Justice Initiative through our Lynching Memorial Task Force to bring awareness and justice to those that lost their lives in our City at the hands of racist lynch mobs.

Learn more about EJI and their incredible work on their website.

Salisbury Lynching Memorial Task Force

Visit the Task Force’s website

The Salisbury Lynching Memorial Task Force is working to facilitate the creation of a permanent monument in honor and solemn remembrance of the three American citizens who lost their lives at the hands of lynch mobs in Wicomico County. They are working closely with local organizations like the Wicomico Truth and Reconciliation Initiative, and national organizations such as the Equal Justice Initiative.

“The events which led to the deaths of these men represent the darkest, most despicable acts of which we are capable,” said the Mayor. “It’s not enough to tell the world that we’re better than these acts, and then just try to move past them. What we have to understand is that the scars left upon a community by coordinated acts of mob violence don’t heal overnight. They don’t heal over decades. They can only begin to heal when we acknowledge and address the reprehensible acts themselves. And, most importantly, the three men who died deserve basic human dignity. They were denied that. By erecting this monument, we are doing what we can to try to give it back. ”

Task Force Members:

Co-Chairs: Amber Green & Michaela Moses

Gretchen Nichols, Brante Dashiell, Bonni Miller, Phillip LeBel, Ajene Turnbull, Jahnae Wallace, James Yamakawa, Joseph Venosa, Neil White, Thomas Long (Intern and Support Role), Creston Long (Nabb Center Support Role), Stephon Mason, Jake Day

Take Your Pick (923 Mt. Hermon Rd.)