In 1986, the UMES Centennial steering committee advanced the idea of using a time capsule to commemorate a milestone year in the life of the institution. Elizabeth Doane-Clark, a staff member and alumna; Herman Franklin, vice president for student affairs; Mortimer Neufville, vice president for academic affairs; Abraham Spinak, a faculty member; Willie Baker, the…Read more Something Extraordinary …
Oct. 25, 1947 – The lone touchdown in the Princess Anne College Trojans’ homecoming game victory over Fayetteville State Teachers College came during the first play of the final quarter. Sylvester “Swifty” Polk threw a 38-yard pass to Mel Lewis and then kicked the extra point, making the score 7-0. The Trojans’ win was their fifth…Read more High-Flying Hawks
Two radio stations air around-the-clock from the campus of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne. One is student-run; the other is a professionally-staffed National Public Radio affiliate. Each has distinct goals and reaches different and diverse audiences. Yet, both are important communication outlets geared to serve their respective communities. The award-winning WESM 91.3 FM was…Read more On The Air
Cornelia Marguerite Daugherty probably turned a few heads when she showed up to study at Princess Anne Academy in the early 1900s. She arrived in a chauffeured car from St. Michaels, Md., where she lived with her mother, Agnes Daugherty Coulbourne, and step-father William Henry Travis Coulbourne, a prominent Talbot County businessman. Daugherty, was the…Read more The Miles family
The University ring, long a symbol of ‘Hawk Pride’ for students and alumni, has featured a variety of images over the years reflecting UMES’ evolving legacy. Among images that designers have used: the school mascot, the traditional Great Seal of Maryland and the Student Services Center’s rotunda dome. In the past, it was not unusual for…Read more The University Ring
When she arrived in Princess Anne, she talked of “making good better.” By every benchmark, she made “better … best.” Thelma Barnaby Thompson became UMES’ 13th chief executive in July 2002. Thompson earned a diploma in teacher education from Bethlehem Teachers’ College in her native Jamaica. (She playfully called herself “Jamerican”). Her family moved in the 1960s…Read more Thelma B. Thompson
The mace was originally a weapon of war used by armored warriors during the Middle Ages. Over the years, it evolved into an ornamental staff serving as a symbol of a ruler’s authority. Colleges and universities embrace the mace as a symbol that represents an important event or tradition. A grand marshal typically carries it in all formal academic processions, and frequently it…Read more The Mace
Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Princess Anne and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore have much in common. On Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011, the church just west of the original entrance to the campus planned a commemorative service acknowledging the 125th anniversary of the start of construction on the simple brick structure a “city block” from the UMES campus….Read more Metropolitan United Methodist Church
Two days before the University of Maryland Eastern Shore was to celebrate the 115th anniversary of its founding, the nation — and the world — came to a standstill. Terrorism on American soil snuffed out a long-anticipated celebration for the university – a dedication ceremony for an important public works project that changed the face of…Read more Sept. 11, 2001
When the Civil War ended in 1865, Blacks recognized education was the path to providing for one’s family and to bettering one’s condition in society. Newfound freedoms notwithstanding, former slaves and freedmen had few options to pursue elementary, much less higher education. Access to formal education was an exceptionally rare in rural communities. In small…Read more Evolution of the Mission
