State and Local Officials Celebrate Dedication

(October 3, 2009) – This Saturday in historic St. Michael’s in Talbot County, the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) will participate in a ceremony commemorating the historic return of historian, activist, journalist and statesman Frederick Douglass to his slave home at Wye Oak Plantation. SHA Deputy Administrator Normetha Goodrum will announce the dedication of MD 33 (St. Michaels Road) to Douglass and present a replica of the highway dedication sign to the St. Michael’s Museum.

The ceremony begins an all day event hosted by the St. Michael’s Museum that will feature re-enactors of Frederick Douglass and Howard Lloyd (great-grandson of the owner of Wye Oak Plantation), speaking events by archaeologists and historians and many other activities.

“In his own words, Frederick Douglass left a slave and returned a statesman,” said Deputy Administrator Goodrum. “Particularly today, his life is a reminder to us all that it matters not how you start your life, but what you do with it that matters most. I am pleased that the Department is able to play even a small part in recognition of his accomplishments and his example.”

MD 33 runs through the town of St. Michael’s and was a part of the path of the Underground Railroad and the passage of men, women and children from slavery to freedom. SHA will install dedication signs that will be placed by mid-October.  In 2004, SHA dedicated the MD 328 (Matthewstown Road) bridge over the Tuckahoe River in Easton was to Douglass.  For more information on the event, log onto www.stmichaelsmuseum.org.

 

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