The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project's annual "Lynching in Maryland" conference will be held online this year due to the ongoing public health emergency. This will be the third year we have presented this program.

This year's conference will be held:

Saturday, October 17, 2020
10a to 12.30p.

One of this year's keynote speakers will be Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., Professor of History at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Dr. Pfeifer has studied the history of collective violence and criminal justice in the United States.

In addition to many scholarly articles, Dr. Pfeifer is the author of no fewer than five books on the history of lynching including a seminal work on the subject, Rough Justice Lynching and American Society, 1874-1947 (University of Illinois Press).

At the upcoming conference, Dr. Pfeifer will speak about a relatively neglected chapter in the history of racial terror, namely the lynchings of enslaved persons and free blacks before the Civil War. This period includes the lynching of Dave Thomas in Denton, Md., in 1854, the first documented racial terror lynching in Maryland. 

In addition, there will be a timely and important panel discussion on how the legacy of lynching continues to influence the Black vote.

Another panel will examine the state of social justice activism in Maryland from the Eastern Shore to Garrett County in the west. 

There will also be updates from representatives of the MD Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Commission and the Equal Justice Initiative.

The response to our previous two conferences has been overwhelming. Don't miss your chance to be a part of this important and powerful symposium.

We urge everyone to REGISTER NOW!