A Maryland county has set its sights on saving a World War I memorial that once stood at the center of a landmark Supreme Court decision.
The 40-foot-tall monument at the intersections of Bladensburg Road, Baltimore Avenue, and Annapolis Road in Bladensburg, Maryland, serves as a reminder of the 49 Prince George’s County residents who died in World War I.
Known as the Peace Cross, it is owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation, which has embarked on a mission to restore it.
The memorial was built in 1919. Over the years, it has fallen into disrepair and is in need of maintenance.
To support fundraising efforts for the project, the Parks and Rec department has developed a commemorative brick program. Through its webpage, you can purchase a custom brick to be inscribed with text of your choice.
"As we honor our local heroes memorialized on the Bladensburg Peace Cross, we now have the opportunity to demonstrate our thanks by contributing to the restoration of the structure,” said Maryland State Sen. Malcolm Augustine. "I am pleased to purchase a brick that will be a permanent fixture of this historic memorial, in honor of the four African American soldiers listed on the Peace Cross.”
Bladensburg resident Steven C. Lowe, two other area residents, and the American Humanist Association mounted a legal challenge against the cross in 2014, arguing that its location on public land is a violation of the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which bars the government from favoring one religion over another. The group lost its first court battle, but in 2017 an appeals court ruled the cross was unconstitutional. That led supporters of the cross, including The American Legion, the State of Maryland, the Trump Administration and 30 other states to ask the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.
On June 19, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7-2 to allow it to continue to stand on public land.
Many families use the brick they purchase to honor those who have died, county officials said. Every donation will go directly towards the memorial’s restoration.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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