ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A Maryland commission on lynchings that were committed in the state is holding its first meeting.
The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission is meeting Monday in Annapolis, Maryland. A measure unanimously approved by the General Assembly this year authorizes the panel to hold public hearings around the state to research racial lynchings that happened in Maryland.
The law says at least 40 African Americans were lynched in Maryland by white mobs between 1854 and 1933. It acknowledges that no one was ever charged in connection with any of the crimes and that government entities were often complicit in committing them and concealing the identities of those responsible.
