Activists urge Cambridge City Council to rename Malkus Bridge
CAMBRIDGE, Md – The Caucus of African American leaders is presenting to the Cambridge City Council Monday, hoping to convince them that the Malkus Bridge should be renamed.
The Council does not have have the authority to change the name, as it’s a state funded bridge. But the CAAL wants them to pass a resolution calling on Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly to take action.
The bridge connects Dorchester and Talbot County, and has been the subject of controversy in recent years. Activists say that its namesake, the late state senator Frederick Malkus Jr., had a record of staunch opposition to the civil rights movement.
“Once you understand more of American history, you understand that these symbols are very important,” said Carl Snowden. “We have an opportunity here to make a statement. And I’m hoping that the town of Cambridge will join us and make that statement, which is: the past should be the past, and we should be focused on the future.” Snowden, Convener of the Caucus of African American leaders, believes that the bridge should be renamed to honor Gloria Richardson–a prominent civil rights activist who called Cambridge home.
But not everyone in the area shares that view.
“I don’t think putting a name on a bridge that people drive over it 55 miles an hour helps anybody understand what happened in Cambridge or anything about Gloria Richardson,” said Steve Rideout, Mayor of Cambridge. Rideout thinks that there are more appropriate ways to honor Richardson’s legacy: “If we’re going to do something, we ought to be doing it somewhere in Cambridge, where tourists and visitors can come and learn about what happened and what she did.”
Mayor Rideout expects public opinion to be split as the conversation continues, saying that Senator Malkus is an important part of the history of the eastern shore.
Snowden thinks that eventually the public will come around to changing the name of the bridge: “I think in the long run, people will come to know that these memorials should reflect our values. And our values are those of inclusion, not exclusion.”
Mayor Rideout did emphasize the importance Richardson’s contributions, saying that the community still feels the impact decades later. He suggested that a location on Pine Street would be appropriate for honoring her legacy.
Richardson passed away in 2021 at the age of 99.
When he retired in 1999, Senator Malkus had served for 48 years in the Maryland legislature, making him the longest tenured legislator in the nation at the time.
