Month: March 2019

Forgotten History: Bladensburg Police Officer Fell in Line of Duty

In my practice as a historian, I occasionally find elusive traces in old records that indicate a first responder, a police officer or firefighter, died in the line of duty, but the memory of the tragedy faded with the passage of time.  Somehow, the loss was forgotten and their names were never added to memorials, although they made the ultimate sacrifice for their community.  When that happens, I pick-up the fragments of evidence and trace the trail back through time, hoping to make sure the public servant’s ultimate sacrifice is not forgotten in the mist of time.

While working on a talk, “CSI The Historical Edition,” a program many Maryland libraries paired with One Maryland One Book, I scrutinized coroner’s inquests and other usually unexamined criminal justice records from the early 1900s. In the array of material I studied in the autumn of 2018 there were some fragmentary traces indicating that a Bladensburg Police Officer had suffered a fatal gunshot wound while coming to the assistance of a Prince George’s County Lawman.

Bladensburg Bailiff Leebrick, a police officer, dies of his wound. Source: Washington Post, June 20, 1923

Here is the information I have at this point

Constable Gasch was assigned to maintain order at a carnival in Bladensburg on Saturday, June 16, 1923.  When a disturbance broke out, the Prince Georges County Officer arrested at least one man for disorderly conduct, and as he prepared to take his prisoner to jail a menacing crowd surrounded the lawman, threatening to free the man.  As the ruckus escalated Bladensburg Bailiff James A. Leebrick came to the aid of the constable, pushing his way through the crowd to reach the officer’s side when he was shot above the heart. (Bailiff was the term for a municipal police officer.)

Bystanders rushed the stricken twenty-five-year-old Bladensburg policeman to Casualty Hospital, in Washington, D.C., where surgeons operated and provided transfusions.  Lingering for three days, Bailiff Leebrick died on Tuesday evening at 8 p.m (June 19, 1923), according to the death certificate. 

The coroner’s jury investigated the murder, determined that “James A. Leebrick, bailiff, who was fatally shot a week ago while aiding a brother officer, met his death as the result of a wound inflicted by a bullet fired by an unknown party.”  The verdict was reached on the fifth polling of the jury. 

Once I finish research the historical traces, I pass the information along to the officer’s department so the local agency may properly memorialize the community’s hero. 

Related Articles

Remembering a Fallen Officer in Bel Air

Police Officer Slain 122 Years Ago Remembered

A 1927 Accident Takes Life of Conowingo Fire Chief

Lynching in Harford County: Beginning the Journey from Truth to Reconciliation

Between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II, more than 4,000 black Americans were victims of racial terror lynchings in the United States. No fewer than 40 of these crimes were committed in Maryland, including at least four in Harford County

Join the Harford County Committee of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project for a community meeting to discuss the importance of acknowledging the history of racial terrorism in our county. The Committee will explore ideas for community remembrance projects as a way to begin the process of healing and reconciliation. The program will include two short films, presentations and community discussion. Complimentary literature from the Equal Justice Initiative will be available.

To register, click here: Register

Harford County Committee Meeting

  • Wednesday, March 27, 2019 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
  • Harford County Community College Student Center Room 243 (map)
Lynching in Harford County, MD: Remembrance, Reflection & Rekoning
Lynching in Harford County: Remembrance, Reflection, and Reckoning

Join the committee for this public meeting to discuss lynching in Harford County, the importance of acknowledging the history of racial terror, pay respect to the victims, and their families, and explore ideas for community remembrance projects as a way to begin the process of healing.

Also See

Cecil County Lynchings – A Dark Chapter in the Past

Harford Community College Awarded NEH Grant

Press Release – Harford Community College

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced an award of $97,118 to Harford Community College (HCC) for “Active Learning and Student Engagement in the Humanities: Understanding the Civil Rights Movement in Harford County, Maryland.” The grant is for a three-year project involving student research and oral history, curriculum development, community partnerships, and the development of digital material on Harford County’s 20th century civil rights history. The project will deepen students’ understanding of literary works and local and national history and will broaden community awareness of the role that Harford County played in the Civil Rights Movement.

“This project will provide HCC Humanities students with an immersion experience in active learning that will also benefit the community by producing a digital record of the Civil Rights movement in greater Harford County, MD,” said Dr. James Karmel, Project Director and Professor. Jennie Towner, Associate Vice President for Student Development and Student Support Leader for the project, stated, “As a non-native resident, I am very excited to learn alongside our students about Harford County during the civil rights era by being part of this important grant opportunity.”

Along with Dr. James Karmel and Jennie Towner, the following HCC employees will serve on the project team:  Colleen Webster (Faculty Scholar), Susan Muaddi Durraj (Faculty Scholar), Sharoll Williams-Love (Student Support Specialist), Mark Dencler (Faculty Scholar), Mark Brock-Cancellieri (Faculty Scholar), Jennifer MyersSmith, (Student Support Specialist), Jenny Jakulin (Student Support Specialist), and Michael Dixon (Faculty Scholar). Dr. Elizabeth Nix, Associate Professor at the University of Baltimore, and Dr. Jennifer Erdman, Assistant Professor at Notre Dame of Maryland University will serve as project consultants. Community partners engaged with the College in the project include the Harford County Public Library, Havre de Grace Colored School Foundation, Historical Society of Harford County, Hosanna School Museum, Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum at Morgan State University, and Visit Harford.

NEH awarded $14.8 million in grants to support 253 humanities projects in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. An additional $47.5 million was awarded to fund 55 state humanities council partners.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: http://www.neh.gov/ .