Crownsville Hosptial mother, Rosalia Dawson, Birthed a Civil Rights pioneer

Rosalia Dawson, a Black patient admitted around 1938, who died during her time as a patient at Crownsville Mental Hospital, was an ancestor of an enBloom founding member, Joi Howard. Joi’s extensive research about the hospital and separate family genealogy research revealed a notable accomplishment of her son, Robert Dawson, Jr.  In 1955, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order to ban racial based on a decision on the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City v. Dawson, 350 U.S. 877 (1955.) against racially segregated beaches and bathhouses at Sandy Point State Park, in Annapolis, MD. The case ultimately extended the Fourteenth Amendment, considered one of the most significant amendments, to state beaches and other recreational facilities.

Rosalia died of pulmonary tuberculosis, after more than 6 years as patient, died at Crownsville, MD March 2, 1944 before she could celebrate this historical moment with her son and family. The suit claimed, “[The Supreme Court] must also take into account the psychological factors recognized at this time, including the feeling of inferiority generated in the hearts and minds of Negro children, when separated solely because of their race from those of similar age and qualification. This statement could have also applied to the hospital patients at that time and another reason to not only recognize the lives of former patients and their contributions to society but also to support current and future community-led initiatives to address the needs of the African American community.