In Memoriam

To deceased persons who deserve recognition for their special contributions to Baltimore history

The 2024 Honorees are:

Eddie Conway was a prison reform advocate, author, and news host. Born in 1946, he grew up in Cherry Hill and West Baltimore. After serving in the military, he joined the Congress of Racial Equality, the NAACP, and the Baltimore Chapter of the Black Panther Party. Conway spent 43 years in prison for a murder he insisted he did not commit. He was released in 2014 after the constitutionality of his case was questioned. Conway wrote a memoir about his experience called Marshall Law: The Life and Times of a Baltimore Black Panther and a history of the Black Panthers called Greatest Threat: The Black Panther Party and the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program. He spent the remaining nine years of his life dedicated to community work, most extensively with the Tubman House community garden in Sandtown-Winchester. He was also a host and producer with the Real News Network.

John “Buzz” Chriest

John Chriest became interested in the history of his community, Dundalk, and especially the Battle of North Point during the War of 1812. During the 1976 American Bicentennial, he wanted to share that history with young and old and especially the significance of the Battle of North Point. After extensive research, John developed a Defenders Day trail booklet describing the history of the battle and various site markers, maps, and troop movements. As a results of his tireless efforts, the National Boys Scouts of America recognized the Defenders Day trail as a National Historic Trail Award. In 1986, Buzz founded the Defenders’ Day celebration at Fort Howard Park, which teaches people about the Battle of North Point. This Defenders' Day celebration continues to be an annual public event. John was an active board member of the Dundalk-Patapsco Neck Historical Society. For his accomplishments in the community, he was awarded the 2016 Dundalk Humanitarian of the Year by the Dundalk Optimist Club.

Robert John Nowlin

Robert John Nowlin was born in Baltimore and raised in Overlea. When he was an infant, an accident left him blind. A graduate of the Maryland School for the Blind, he also studied at a Washington technical school. In 1989, he and his wife moved from East Baltimore into a rehabilitated three-bedroom home in the 600 block of Cator Avenue in the Pen Lucy neighborhood. As proud as he was of owning a home, Mr. Nowlin was unhappy with the drug dealing, gunfire and killings on nearby Old York Road, so he decided to do something about it. In 1991, he became president of the Pen Lucy Community Association. He frequently testified at City Council hearings and built a strong relationship with Northern District police, city officials and surrounding neighborhood associations. “The worst thing is the fear [the criminals] instill in the senior citizens and the other residents who live here. I’ll fight a lot. Whatever it takes, that’s what we’re going to try and do.” The violence culminated in 1992 when his own house was shot with 30 bullets from a semi-automatic weapon while he and his family slept. “He was a determined leader who exposed himself to physical abuse from drug dealers” Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said. “…his vision for his community and those who lived there was 20/20.” Over his years of activism, Robert Nowlin became a highly-respected leader in northeast Baltimore, a sought-after speaker and advocate, and a role model for many community leaders.

Vincent Quayle

Vincent Quayle was the founder of the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, a passionate advocate in the fight against discriminatory housing practices such as redlining and blockbusting. A licensed real estate agent and former Jesuit priest, Quayle founded the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center in 1968 to help Black homebuyers know their rights and find fair deals. He picketed banks engaged in predatory lending and advocated for industry reforms. In its over 50-year history, St. Ambrose has impacted over 130,000 families in the Baltimore region and has grown to include services such as legal advice, financial coaching, home repairs, foreclosure and eviction prevention, and home sharing. Beyond his housing advocacy, Quayle advocated for social justice training within the Catholic Church, emphasizing its duty to serve local communities. He left the priesthood in the 1970s and married. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and their three sons.

Elizabeth Mary Schaaf

Elizabeth Mary Schaaf archived Baltimore’s musical history at the Peabody Institute. In 1985, she founded the archive and was assisted by a $500,000 grant from the Getty Foundation. A 2004 Sun article said. “Schaaf oversees nothing less than the panoramic musical history of Baltimore, from the mid-19th century to the most recent road show at the Mechanic.” She went on to study with archivists at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art and for some time, she was an authority on Baltimore’s racially segregated Colored Symphony Orchestra of the 1930s. In 2017, she co-authored with fellow Peabody faculty member David K. Hildebrand, “Musical Maryland: A History of Song and Performance from The Colonial Period to the Age of Radio.” It was the first comprehensive survey of the music emanating from Maryland. She went on to establish the archive for the Lyric Opera House and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Peabody. She retired in 2008 and was most recently an archivist for the thoroughbred horse breeding farm Country Life Farm in Bel Air.

The 2023 honorees are:

Mamie Todd

Civil rights activist, educator and social worker Mamie Todd received a Master of Social Work degree in 1953 from the University of Pennsylvania. Soon after, she began a crusade to stop the exploitation and abuse of Baltimore's most vulnerable children. She ultimately led the development of the State of Maryland’s Social Services Administration’s Child Protective Services Agency. Her goals included ensuring that suspected child abusers would be investigated by qualified professionals and making sure that abused children received therapeutic treatment. Along the way, she helped inspire and train legions of future social workers, including a young social worker and future U.S. Senator, Barbara Mikulski. Todd was also a founding member of the Pierians, a Baltimore-based organization dedicated to the study, promotion and enjoyment of the arts that now has chapters in many states.

Herman Williams, Jr.

Baltimore called him “Chief.” And Herman Williams, Jr. is still best known as Baltimore City’s first African American fire chief, appointed by Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke in 1992 and retired 2001.During his tenure, the City set record lows in fire deaths, and the number of fires declined by nearly half. But citizens may best remember Chief Williams for initiating the Fire Department’s free distribution of smoke detectors. Chief Williams moved from New York City to Sandtown-Winchester as a teen, graduated from Frederick Douglass High School, and earned his associate degree in Fire Management at the Community College of Baltimore County. Before his firefighter career, Chief Williams was a bass player at Block bars and the Royal Theater -- when not enduring racist abuses as one of the first African Americans hired to drive for Baltimore Transit Company. He meanwhile helped win approval of the Fire Department’s hiring of African-American recruits. The rest is history!

Past Honorees, in alphabetical order:

Hon. Rosalie Silber Abrams (2010)

Hon. Victorine Q. Adams (2007)

Jody Albright (2017)

Margaret Phyllis DeMan Armstrong (2017)

Joseph Arnold (2007)

Rosa L. Barber (2021)

Evelyn T. Beasley (2020)

Charles Blackburn (2018)

Esther Bonnet (2018)

Hon. Clarence H. (Du) Burns (2008)

Agnes Callum (2016)