Annapolis-area officials and activists on Monday will honor the Annapolis Five, a group of African Americans who were denied service at a restaurant in 1960 because of the color of their skin, and other people and events that were key to advancing civil rights movements in the region.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination in public places and integrated schools. But nearly four years earlier, the fight for civil rights was well underway across the country and in Annapolis, where five Black men and women walked into the Terminal Restaurant at the Greyhound bus station on West Street on Nov. 25 in search of something to eat.

The man working behind the counter said he couldn’t serve them, instead offering carryout food. But the group — dentist Samuel Callahan, teachers Marita Carroll and Ethel Thompson, beauty products representative Lacey McKinney, and William Johnson, a retired Naval Academy employee and bail bondsman — declined and refused to leave.

The worker called police, who arrested the group for trespassing.

Though the five residents were released on $102 bonds, it spurred a week of picketing, which led to the end of segregation at the restaurant, according to a 1993 Baltimore Sun article. Picketing ensued at other Annapolis restaurants and the city was eventually desegregated.

Now, 64 years later, area leaders will reflect on decades of civil rights efforts and pay homage to the work that’s continued through today.

“We are celebrating those people whose shoulders we stand on,” said Janice Hayes-Williams, a historian and event organizer. “They opened doors to restaurants, all kinds of things, and we are celebrating that moment in time that we used to go to church and sing ‘This Little Light of Mine,'” which was one of the anthems of the civil rights movement.

Organized by Debbie Wood, founder and executive director of the Chesapeake Children’s Museum, and Hayes-Williams, the event kicks off with a news conference at The People’s Park on Calvert Street before moving to the Graduate Hotel on West Street.

The hotel, formerly the site of the Terminal Restaurant where those five Black residents staged their sit-in demonstration, is sponsoring the event and providing lunch. And while the Annapolis Five are no longer alive, some of their descendants will speak during Monday’s ceremony.

“What we’re hoping to create is a day that enables people to hear this story and other stories so that the memories don’t get lost, because that’s what history is,” Wood said. “That’s why we’re involved, because we want to keep the civil rights history alive while we have people still living that were there for events.”

The day will include live music sets with songs of Black pride and protest as well as speeches from area leaders.

Speakers include Carl Snowden, convener of the Caucus of African American leaders; Michael Mitchell, nephew of Parren Mitchell, the first African American elected to Congress from Maryland; Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley; state legislators Del. Shaneka Henson and Sen. Sarah Elfreth, who was elected to Congress earlier this month, and Hayes-Williams.

Organizers are also planning two screenings of “Pip & Zastrow: An American Friendship,” a 2008 documentary that tells the story of the friendship that developed in the 1940s between former Annapolis Mayor Roger “Pip” Moyer and Joseph “Zastrow” Simms, a Black community activist.

A more permanent memorial for the Annapolis Five is planned. Earlier this year, Hayes-Williams asked Elfreth and Henson to sponsor a state legislative bond initiative for $20,000 to design and install a marker along West Street to educate passersby on the historical significance of the former bus station restaurant — something more prominent than the current plaque, which is often obscured by posters and promotional materials. The bond was approved as part of the state’s fiscal 2025 capital budget. When the marker will be installed is unclear.

While the event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., is free, organizers are asking attendees to RSVP at theccm.org/event-details/64-years-of-civil-rights-history.

“It’s important because when people endeavor to make change and make sacrifices to make that happen and show bravery, it needs to last beyond the event itself,” Wood said. “This is what history should be: it’s role models for us, it’s appreciation, it’s stepping into somebody else’s shoes, so events in history that should not be forgotten need to be remembered in an active way in order for them to not be forgotten.”

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com, 443-679-7818 and x.com/nataliemjones.