Germantown Then & Now: Blacks and Whites Shared A Dream in Boyds

Thirty years ago, a community came together to fulfill a shared dream and to bridge the chasm created by segregation. The dream they shared was to restore a building formerly used as a black school in Boyds and use it for community meetings. So, coordinated by the Boyds Historical Society, both black and white neighbors got together and scraped, painted, pulled weeds, found furnishings and applied for grants. It took ten years, but the result is the Historic Boyds Negro School, a handsome, well-cared for place furnished to replicate a one-room school of 1900.

The village of Boyds, just north of Germantown, had come into being after the railroad line was completed in 1873. It had been the site of the work camp of James Boyd, contractor for construction of this section of the line.  Boyd and others purchased land and established farms. James Williams and Mahlon Lewis built a store near the train station. Mr. Hoyle built a mill next to the tracks, replacing the water-powered mill he had nearby on Seneca Creek. A Presbyterian church was built in 1876. Boyds became a bustling little railroad town.

But the African American residents of the town lived on the other side of the shared clear-water Gum Spring in a community called White Grounds. They had their own church, St. Marks Methodist Church, built around 1890, an Odd Fellows Hall, and the school. One of the earliest settlers in the community was Henry Duffin. The Duffin family members had been slaves of Benjamin Gott and William Offutt, who had farms nearby. Other founders of the community were William Gibbs and John and Lucy Hebron.

There were about an equal number of white and black residents of Boyds, but they were divided by the spring and did not interact much, each having their own celebrations and gatherings.

The Boyds Negro School is a one-room 22 x 30 foot wooden building with three large windows on the two long sides, and  heated by a wood stove. It served as the only public school for African Americans in the Boyds area from 1895 to 1936.  The schoolhouse served students in grades 1-8, many of whom walked for miles to attend classes at the school.  The African American community of Boyds was very lucky to have a schoolhouse built just for them, one of only fifteen in the county before 1900. Before the school was built, classes were held in the church.

The Black public school system in Maryland officially began in 1872 when the General Assembly appropriated $50,000 for Black schools.  Montgomery County received $532 per quarter of this fund.  This money was used mainly just as an operational fund.  Black property owners in the county had to pay a special real estate tax levied just on Blacks in order to pay for Black schools and to hire teachers.  Books and writing materials were provided in very limited quantities and the books were used books left over from the White schools.

 All of the money appropriated and collected for Black schools was controlled by the all-White County School Board.  In order to get a school, a Black community had to ask for one and prove that they had enough children to open a school.  If they already had a school operating in a church building or community hall or had such facilities available, their chances of getting a county school house were practically nil, although the School Board did provide a meager rent for the existing facility. 

If they already had built a schoolhouse, the community had to transfer ownership of that schoolhouse to the county before they would be assigned a teacher and materials.  Teachers were also approved and assigned by the School Board, and in the early years the teachers were all white.

The Boyds Historical Society was organized in 1975 as the Boyds-Clarksburg Historical Society. From the beginning, it included both the black and white residents of Boyds and Clarksburg. In 1980, it acquired the historic Boyds Negro School property. The restoration of the building was a long and difficult struggle and continues to this day as parts of the building deteriorate. It is through the dedication of individuals that we have this special reminder of the past; a past perhaps not so comfortable, but very important to remember if we are to build a better future together.

The Boyds Negro School, 19510 White Ground Rd., is open by appointment and also on the last Sunday of each month from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm. in April through November. It will be open this Sunday afternoon, June 26, for Montgomery County Heritage Days. They welcome individuals, school groups, home-schoolers and anyone with an interest in our local history.  The school can also be used for meetings and by community groups. For more information on the historical society go to www.boydshistory.org. To arrange a tour or to reserve the space, contact info@boydshistory.org.

Montgomery County Heritages Days are on Saturday and Sunday June 25 and 26. Four of the 36 sites are in the Germantown area: The King Barn Dairy MOOseum, the Button Farm Living History Center, the Boyds Negro School, and the Historic Germantown Bank (open Saturday only). For more information on Montgomery County Heritage Days go to: www.montgomeryheritage.org. For the month of June this column will describe each of these four sites.