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Plans to honor abolitionist prove divisive in Talbot Co.
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County courthouse lawn is only for war memorials, not Douglass, council says

By Chris Guy
Sun Staff

February 9, 2004
EASTON - The lawn of the county courthouse boasts a monument to Vietnam veterans and a statue honoring "The Talbot Boys," heroes of the Confederacy. Now, sponsors of a memorial to the county's most illustrious native, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, have been told that he does not qualify for a similar honor - because he was not a soldier.

Supporters in the Colonial capital of the Eastern Shore see the courthouse, a political hub since before Douglass was born nearby in 1818, as the only worthy site for his tribute. The jail where, as a young man, Douglass was held after an escape from bondage once stood next door.

But a divided Talbot County Council has shelved the proposal, pointing to an unwritten policy that reserves the lawn for memorials to the county's war dead. Council members suggested the library or a town park might be a better place to honor the famed orator and author.