In honor of Walter S. Mills, an educator who advocated for Black teachers in Anne Arundel County, the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis will host an exhibition featuring documents, pictures and other artifacts from the Maryland native’s life.
The exhibit, “Shaping History Through Service: The Walter S. Mills Story,” takes viewers back to 1939 when Mills, a teacher at Parole Elementary School in Annapolis, fought for African-American teachers to receive the same pay rate as their White counterparts. The court case was successfully argued by attorney and Maryland native Thurgood Marshall, bringing an end to unequal pay for teachers in Anne Arundel County, and eventually the entire state of Maryland.
This exhibition explores Walter Mills’ pursuit of education and fight for the rights of others from his childhood and his career teaching and serving as principal at Parole Elementary School through the monumental lawsuit that changed the way teachers were paid to his lifelong commitment to service and the Annapolis community. This exhibition will include rarely seen photos, objects, and documents in the process of telling the life story of Walter Mills.
The exhibit takes place Oct. 31, 1-3 p.m., at Banneker-Douglass Museum, 84 Franklin St., Annapolis, Md. For more information and to RSVP call 410-216-6180 or visit bdmuseum.com.