On the first day of school in 1956, Carl Harris was the first Black student to integrate Germantown Elementary School. His parents accompanied him.
“I can remember there were police, there were parents on both sides of the sidewalk, and I remember my mother boldly, strongly walked me to the front door,” Harris, 75, recalled.
Peers and teachers were not welcoming.
“I couldn’t tell you what my second grade class looked like because the teacher made me keep my head on the desk,” he said.
Nearly 70 years later, at a Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, Harris’ 103-year-old father accompanied him again. This time, Harris presented a glass etching portrait of the school to Germantown’s principal, who plans to hang it in the building lobby.
Harris, who spent a career as a paralegal, became interested in glass art about 10 years ago when his daughters gave him a Dremel tool set for Father’s Day. After some trial and error, Harris developed his freehand signature style and eventually came to be recognized as an official Maryland artist, a distinction given by the State Archives.
Most of his work is of historic landmarks, including the Maryland State House, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and now Germantown Elementary. In his art, Harris includes tiny text with short messages.
In his etching of Germantown, Harris concealed letters in tree leaves to spell out “God was with me.”
He contacted the school system two weeks ago asking to donate the portrait of the school.
“Mr. Harris did more than learn history. He lived it, and he made it,” said Joanna Bache Tobin, District 6 member.
Harris grew up and spent most of his life in Annapolis but has retired to Charles County. He’s still in school, studying social work at Bowie State University. The secret to a long, healthy life is simple, he said: “Just keep going.”
Harris said he hopes the Germantown community enjoys his work, but he also hopes it serves as a reminder of lessons learned from history.
“It’s a move forward, in as far as history is concerned, something that we learn from history, how we can just feel better about ourselves, how we work together, how we learn to be nonjudgmental,” Harris said.
Have a news tip? Contact Bridget Byrne at bbyrne@baltsun.com or 443-690-7205
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