‘This is where they came to die’: Historical marker highlights horrors at segregated reform school

Gov. Wes Moore (D) was struck by the original ledger from the old House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children, a segregated reform school for boys that operated in southern Prince George’s County beginning in the 1870s.

“If you look at the ledger, it has entry points and no exit points. This is where they came to die,” Moore said to the dozens of state and county officials gathered Wednesday at the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center to dedicate a historical marker at the site.

“They were whipped and beaten. Their humanity taken away from them. Boys died of disease and exhaustion here,” Moore said. “This work is going to be hard. It will be painful. It will force us to learn a history about ourselves. … We’re going to learn anew and just pray that in this journey, that God continue to watch over this process.”

A historical roadside marker unveiled Wednesday not only pays homage to Black youth who endured horrible conditions at a former state-run reform school in Maryland, but also touches upon the state’s racial history.

The nearly one-hour ceremony centered on at least 230 Black youth buried, some in unmarked graves or graves marked with cinder blocks, on overgrown property that sits between the detention center and the manicured Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery along Route 301.

Legislation approved during this year’s 90-day legislative session – Senate Bill 776 and House Bill 552 – created the Commission on the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children.

The goal of the measures, sponsored by Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) and Del. Jeffrie Long Jr. (D-Calvert and Prince George’s) is to “research the history, operations, and resident deaths” at the House of Reformation “and provide a complete and public accounting of the children who died and were buried on the grounds.”

The state Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) was awarded a $200,000 grant earlier this year to pay for a ground-penetrating radar survey and restoration of the cemetery grounds. Moore said Wednesday the state will invest more than $1 million in restoration efforts and other work.

The nearly two dozen members on the commission would include representatives from DJS, the Attorney General’s Office and the Maryland Historical Trust. A preliminary report is due by Dec. 31, 2027, that documents the progress of the investigation, with recommendations to the governor and General Assembly.

“The time has come to move past thoughts and prayers but towards real action,” Long said. “We are not just unveiling a marker. We are making a decision to acknowledge the heart-wrenching, hurtful truth of what happened on the nearby … grounds.”

Those in attendance included Crystal Foreita, currently enrolled in Yale Law School, who worked as a fellow with DJS starting in August 2023. Foreita, who’s from Montgomery County, is credited for leading the research that uncovered the Black youth at the House of Reformation.

“It is through this understanding that we must perk our ears and listen to the voices that have gone unheard for far too long, and so I did,” she said.

Her work also included research into the 1961 court case of State Board of Public Welfare v. Myers that ended segregation in Maryland’s juvenile facilities.

One of the attorneys in that case was Juanita Jackson Mitchell, the first Black woman to practice law in Maryland. The lead plaintiff was 13-year-old Robert Myers, who stayed at Cheltenham when it was still known as Boys Village. Myers’ sister, Janice Griffin, 71, attended Wednesday’s ceremony.

“I get too emotional when I think about my brother” Griffin said during a brief interview before the event began. “My brother did not have a decent life. I’m sure his time here was not good, either.”

Griffin expressed thanks to the lawmakers, including the Legislative Black Caucus, that made establishing a House of Reformation commission a priority.

“I’m very happy. I’m very thankful for all the people that worked on this,” she said.

Originally published at Marylandmatters.Org