Maryland

Many states are heterogeneous, but Maryland is more so than most. The name evokes a variety of visions: the metropolis of Baltimore; the harsh coal mining country of the West and North; the marine delights of the Eastern shore; the antique enchantment of the Southern counties; rich farm lands; great industries. Maryland is enriched by its contrasts, united by its individualism.

The Maryland counties adjoining Washington have become huge suburbs of the national capital. The perennial housing shortage in the District of Columbia is the great centrifugal force which each year propels more federal employees and other Washingtonians deeper into Maryland (and Virginia). Another recent influence is the integration problem. Washington public schools are integrated, as are some of those in the nearby counties of the adjoining state. But the latter have relatively few Negro residents, and there has been little resistance to the Supreme Court decision. In Washington, too, desegregation was affected without incident; but there is a corollary hidden in the city’s vital statistics. In 1940 the Negro population was slightly under 29 per cent. The 1950 census showed an increase to 35 per cent. The Library of Congress has no later statistics, but Population Reference Bureau, Inc. has compiled more recent figures from a number of official sources. These show an increase in the Negro population to 41 per cent in 1955 and a similar comparative differential in birth statistics. In the 1949 table of birth rates per thousand of population, 23.6 were white; 32.6 non-white. In 1954 the ratio was, white 19.6; non-white 30.3. A sidelight is thrown on the picture by the decline in automobile licenses issued by the district government. There were 10,000 fewer applications in 1955 than in 1954. The District’s loss represented a substantial part of the increase in nearby Maryland and Virginia.

SJ

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Sam M. Jones

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Many states are heterogeneous, but Maryland is more so than most. The name evokes a variety of visions: the metropolis of Baltimore; the harsh coal mining country of the West and North; the marine delights of the Eastern shore; the antique enchantment of the Southern counties; rich farm lands; great industries. Maryland is enriched by its contrasts, united by its individualism.

The Maryland counties adjoining Washington have become huge suburbs of the national capital. The perennial housing shortage in the District of Columbia is the great centrifugal force which each year propels more federal employees and other Washingtonians deeper into Maryland (and Virginia). Another recent influence is the integration problem. Washington public schools are integrated, as are some of those in the nearby counties of the adjoining state. But the latter have relatively few Negro residents, and there has been little resistance to the Supreme Court decision. In Washington, too, desegregation was affected without incident; but there is a corollary hidden in the city’s vital statistics. In 1940 the Negro population was slightly under 29 per cent. The 1950 census showed an increase to 35 per cent. The Library of Congress has no later statistics, but Population Reference Bureau, Inc. has compiled more recent figures from a number of official sources. These show an increase in the Negro population to 41 per cent in 1955 and a similar comparative differential in birth statistics. In the 1949 table of birth rates per thousand of population, 23.6 were white; 32.6 non-white. In 1954 the ratio was, white 19.6; non-white 30.3. A sidelight is thrown on the picture by the decline in automobile licenses issued by the district government. There were 10,000 fewer applications in 1955 than in 1954. The District’s loss represented a substantial part of the increase in nearby Maryland and Virginia.