In 1885, a 15-year old boy named Howard Cooper was lynched in Towson. His was one of more than 40 racial terror lynchings in Maryland between 1854 and 1933.

Cooper had been convicted of assault and rape by an all white jury, which deliberated less than a minute before reaching its verdict. His attorneys were about to file an appeal with the US Supreme Court based on Cooper’s 14th Amendment rights. Rather than risk a reversal, a mob of about 75 masked men dragged Cooper from the old Baltimore County Jail in Towson and hung him from a sycamore tree next to the building. 

To publicly acknowledge this murder and honor the victim, the Baltimore County Committee of the MD Lynching Memorial Project is working to install a permanent historical marker at the site in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).  The Committee has targeted an installation ceremony for later this spring.

Subcommittees have already been created for the following task areas:

• Remembrance ceremony

• Logistics

• High School Social Justice Essay Contest

• Community Outreach

This meeting will allow all the subcommittees to meet individually and to report on their progress to the larger group. Everyone is invited to attend!

Please park in the lot adjacent to the building and enter through the main entrance on Central Avenue.

Please note: Central Avenue is a one way street headed NORTH so you'll need to approach the building from the Allegheny Avenue (south) end.

ALSO: Pay attention to the parking restrictions posted on Central Avenue!