Crownsville’s Say My Name Memorial and the Fight to Preserve Black History
by Stacey Coles
The cloudy morning sky lent to the eerie feeling given by the boarded brick structures covered in foliage. Behind a long line of cars, I drove up the dirt road leading to the Crownsville Hospital Patient Cemetery. Making it to the top of the slow procession, volunteers directed me to park in a place on the green field. Passing by the Walk for the Woods event, I headed up a small hill to find people gathered in a large circle. Grabbing a folded piece of paper and a handful of flower petals from a woman holding two woven baskets, I joined the crowd. At the center of the circle, a woman dressed in black sang an original song. “Say my name loud. Say my name clear,” Scotti Preston belted. ”Say my name so all will know I was here!” Following her song, Scotti approached her friend. Annapolis Historian Janice Hayes-Williams, who organized the event, kicked off the heart of the 19th Annual Say My Name Ceremony by honoring the patients buried under our feet. “Louis Turner,” Janice projected before Scotti moved to the next person. Making her way around the circle she prompted each person with a tuneful “Say my Name!” to shout the name typed on their piece of paper. Today, Janice and the rest of the Friends of Crownsville Patient Cemetery are focused on giving the names of those individuals permanency and ensuring the chilling history of Crownsville Hospital, formerly known as The Maryland Hospital for the Negro Insane, does not get lost. “For history’s sake, we need to understand mental health,” Janice said. “For history’s sake, we need to understand the plight of African Americans [who] were incarcerated in a place because they were feeble, because they had epilepsy…This has to be feared so we never do it again.”
Construction workers laying the foundation for the Say My Name Memorial. Photo Courtesy of Janice Hayes-Williams
Currently being constructed, the Say My Name Memorial will fortify the identities of those who suffered. The 16-ton-black-granite plaza will feature engravings of all of those buried on the land and will be unveiled in the spring. Janice thanks politicians and community members for helping her bring this vision to life. Contractors, Phil Cline (FCPC), AACO Contractor Michael Stroud, Janice Hayes-Williams (Founder of FCPC), Susan Cline (FCPC) pose for a photo during the construction of the plaza. Photo Courtesy of Janice Hayes-Williams
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