The first African American to be superintendent of schools in Somerset County has died.
Harrison DeWayne Whittington was 81.
He held a seat on the Somerset Board of Education from 2008 until his defeat in the November 6th election.
But Whittington made history when he was dismissed as Somerset County’s first black Superintendent.
That led to a lawsuit which he won against the school system.
Ultimately the H. DeWayne Whittington Primary School was named in his honor.
In 2007 his portrait was unveiled at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore.
He was the first Lower Shore native to be so honored.
