The Robert Moton High School Project
Carroll County, Maryland
How many times have you wandered past a row of old photographs, and wondered what the story was behind those faces? Who were they? What could we learn from the people looking into the camera lens? The Robert Moton High School project came about as a result of a row of unnamed pictures in a repurposed Carroll County building. A few inquiries and one phone call later, an idea was born.
It was finally time to honor a previously underreported segment of Carroll County history. The collection of pictures on the wall of the Robert Moton Building, current home to Carroll County Parks and Recreation Department and the board room of The Friends and Former Students of Robert Moton High School, hold a treasure trove of strength and memory for the students who attended school there. Their story should be heard.
Robert Moton High School was the only high school available to Carroll County students of color until 1964, when those students were integrated into their home-area high schools. Its students came from all corners of the county, some traveling as many as two hours each way on a school bus purchased from Carroll County by the school’s PTA. The school’s driver, Alonzo Lee, volunteered for the duty before and after his teaching job at the school.
The teachers were a dedicated group, working with used books discarded by local high schools and demanding the utmost from their students. The lack of materials did not allow for low expectations. Perhaps because of the scarcity of materials, students were held to the highest standards in academics and in behavior. Robert Moton High School was a place of excellence. It served its members well. This is THEIR story.
The story is told by 6th grade students at Northwest Middle School. It is appropriate that today’s young people tell this story of yesterday’s forgotten students. Today’s students must know what the generations before have given to them. It is with the highest respect that we honor the memory of Robert Moton High School.
Gayle Sands
RLA Teacher
Northwest Middle School
Taneytown, MD
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