This dissertation explores aspects of the conflicts over the practice of democracy that occurred between whites and blacks who lived in Annapolis, Maryland, from 1902 to 1952. Based on an analysis of 50 years of newspaper stories, archival records, city maps and directories, census data, and oral history interviews, this study recounts some of the strategies African Americans used to gain equal rights and details some of the methods whites employed to deny or curtail their rights. The project discusses important national and state developments to place these contestations in a larger context.

This study shows how African Americans made themselves more equal as citizens in this border state town. Their efforts were narrowly focused and short-lived and resulted in some small gains for themselves, while other aspects of their lives remained unchanged. At the same time, they became more self-reliant as they developed their own institutions in their neighborhoods, alternative worlds, which became more diversified. The study also explores a range of survival and advancement strategies used by African American families.

To illuminate the complex, changing nature of these struggles, this dissertation depicts the relationships between blacks and whites that was visible on the landscape. From a bird's-eye view, the study describes how each side used the landscape to advance its position. It traces the spaces African Americans chose to frequent, and where they challenged the spatial hierarchy and the spaces European Americans claimed and dominated. It explains what places meant to blacks and whites, what boundaries existed between them, and how they transgressed boundaries. The focus is largely on the movement of African Americans, where they encountered whites, and where they retreated into their own worlds. The study charts the social and economic development of the black neighborhoods—their business enterprises, housing projects, and homes, from prominent to impoverished residents, to ascertain the alterations and social relations in the black community. It also examines African American interpretations and memories of their landscape that fostered a sense of community or social hierarchy.