Appointed by Calvert County Delegation to General Assembly: Joyce Freeland; Malcolm L. Funn; Michael A. Jackson; Guffrie M. Smith, Jr.
Appointed by Board of County Commissioners, Calvert County: Patrick H. Nutter
Ex officio: Daniel D. Curry, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Calvert County; Margaret C. Dunkle, Chair, Commission for Women, Calvert County.
Staff: Melinda L. Sheranko
P. O. Box 499
Solomons, MD 20688 - 0499
(410) 326-0081
e-mail: anthony.odonnell@house.state.md.us
In July 2015, the Task Force to Study the Commemoration of Harriet Elizabeth Brown was authorized (Chapter 242, Acts of 2015).
Harriet Elizabeth (Libby) Brown (1907-2009) taught in Calvert County and served as principal at Mt. Hope Elementary School (now Mt. Hope Community Center), Sunderland, Maryland. A civil rights pioneer, she was instrumental in establishing pay equity for public school teachers regardless of race. The Task Force charge was to recommend a way to honor Harriet Elizabeth Brown.
The Task Force held public hearings; considered commemorating Harriet Elizabeth Brown by naming a school or education building after her; and evaluated the cost-effectiveness of proposals.
On December 27, 2015, the Task Force submitted its report to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners.
On March 1, 2016, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to open the Harriet Elizabeth Brown Community Center in Prince Frederick, Maryland. Two other Task Force proposals are still under consideration: renaming a section of Route 2 to be the Harriet Elizabeth Brown Memorial Highway, and commissioning a portrait of her to hang in the Calvert County Courthouse.
Authorization for the Task Force ended June 30, 2016.
An historical marker for Harriet Elizabeth Brown is located in Sunderland (Calvert County), Maryland, at the intersection of Solomons Island Road (Route 2) and Pushaw Station Road, on the right when traveling north.
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