Senator Carl Jackson will be hosting elected officials and local leaders on a tour of Dowden Chapel and Cemetery on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m. This was an important African American landmark located in Maryland’s 8th Legislative District, that has deep roots in Maryland’s history. Dowden Chapel and Cemetery is located at 4310 Ridge Road in Nottingham.
Dowden Chapel is believed to have served as a stop on the Underground Railroad, where enslaved people once hid beneath the chapel’s altar steps in search of freedom. Later, this same space became an educational lifeline for Black children during segregation—at a time when access to formal education was severely restricted.
Among those students were Mr. James Harvey and his siblings, who attended the schoolhouse on the chapel grounds as children. Their early education in this one-room church school laid a strong foundation for when they later became some of the first non- white students accepted into Baltimore County Public Schools (Perry Hall Elementary) after the end of segregation. Mr. James Harvey, who now serves as trustee of the site, will personally lead this powerful and deeply personal tour.
There is also a cemetery on the grounds with hand-carved gravestones—some marked, others unmarked—that tell stories of faith, craftsmanship, and cultural identity.
Jackson believes that this chapel and cemetery deserve to be protected, and he has organized this tour to bring awareness of the site’s history, as well as in support of possible state funding to help with renovations at the site.
