David Glenn, 1975 October 22
Abstract
David L. Glenn (1925-2001) was a civil rights activist and Maryland state government administrator. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Glenn entered the Army Air Forces after high school and served with the Tuskegee Airmen as an aerial radio operator and gunner. In 1965 he joined Mayor Theodore R. McKeldin's administration and from 1967 to 1973 Glenn was the director of the Baltimore Community Relations Commission. In 1978, Glenn was named executive director of the Maryland Human Relations Commission by Governor Blair Lee, III. In this oral history interview, Glenn provides insight into McKeldin’s motives, methods, and character as well as describes how he and the mayor developed a close relationship. He explains that McKeldin was a proponent for civil action, courteous diplomacy, and discussing his methods of administration. Glenn also describes the passing of the Omnibus Civil Rights Act in 1964, which paved the way for wider desegregation of property and racial equality in the city. He also recollects when C.O.R.E. (Congress of Racial Equality) labeled Baltimore, Maryland as a target city and how this proved to be helpful rather than harmful in facilitating progress in the region.
This interview was conducted prior to the official start of the McKeldin-Jackson Project. It is one of multiple interviews preceding the official start of the McKeldn-Jackson Project that were added to the collection due to their civil rights-related content.
Dates
- 1975 October 22
Creator
- Glenn, David, 1925- (Narrator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Extent
40 Minutes (Audio recording)
22 Pages (Transcript)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Processing Information
There are an additional 3 pages of supplementary material (biographical data) included after the transcript.
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of 87 oral history interviews and 4 other related items. Materials available for the interviews include audio recordings, transcripts, tape indexes, newspaper clippings, biographical information, and interview evaluations. Each item record indicates whether a complete transcript or an uncorrected transcript is available for an oral history.
All recordings within the collection are digitized and continue to be added to MCHC's Digital Collections portal.
Interviews were conducted from 1975-1977, with some earlier recordings made prior to the project added to the collection. Narrators range from leaders in the Maryland civil rights movement and local activists, to people opposed to the movement. Narrators include Lillie May Carroll Jackson’s children: Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Virginia Jackson Kiah, and Bowen Keiffer Jackson; Parren Mitchell, U.S. Congressman, 1971-1987; Donald G. Murray, the first African American admitted to the University of Maryland Law School; Verda Welcome, one of the first Black women to be elected to a state Senate; Thomas J. D’Alesandro III, mayor of Baltimore, 1967-1971; Clarence Mitchell, Jr., chief lobbyist to the NAACP; Vernon Naimaster, Great Titan of the Maryland Ku Klux Klan; and Dr. J.E.T. Camper, a prominent physician who also devoted his career to seeking racial justice and equality.
In addition to these oral history interviews, there are four items related to the project that are included with the collection. There is an audio recording of a radio program on which narrators David Glenn and Judge Robert Watts appeared to discuss the McKeldin-Jackson project with host Alan Christian. There is an audio recording as well as textual materials from the colloquium and exhibition held at the Maryland Historical Society to commemorate the McKeldin-Jackson project on November 16, 1976. There is also a research paper written by a Goucher College student on Theodore R. McKeldin and the civil rights movement in Maryland and a binder containing information on the development and progress of the McKeldin-Jackson project.
Creator
- Glenn, David, 1925- (Narrator, Person)
- Krieger, Nancy Ann (Interviewer, Person)
Repository Details
Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750
specialcollections@mdhistory.org