Maryland high school named after slave-owning colonel could be renamed

Community weighs in on renaming Magruder High School

The name of a local high school that's been open since the '70s is now being reconsidered since the man it's currently named after once owned slaves.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - The name of a local high school that's been open since the '70s is now being reconsidered since the man it's currently named after once owned slaves.

In February, a petition was submitted to the Montgomery County Board of Education
requesting that the board consider renaming Colonel Zadok Magruder High School.

Census records dating back to 1790 revealed that the colonel owned at least 26 slaves, and kept them on his property near to where the school is currently located.

In 2020, students at the school launched a similar petition, calling for the Derwood-based high school to be renamed after someone who didn't participate in slavery. They garnered over 2,000 signatures for their cause.

"Col. Zadok Magruder chained humans. Our high school was named for him because he commanded a Maryland militia in the Revolutionary War. But now that we know that he shackled black people, let’s rename our school after a non slaver," the Change.org petition reads.

DERWOOD, MD- January 22 : Colonel Zadok Magruder High School in Derwood, MD on January 22, 2022, the day after a student was shot inside during school hours. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

As a result of the latest outcry, Montgomery County Public Schools is holding a series of community dialogues to allow people to discuss what the school's name means to them, and how it affirms the school's educational mission and values.

These sessions are set up to help the school board determine the community's interest in renaming the school.

So far, there's been two meetings on the topic: one in-person at Magruder High School, and the other was held virtually over the weekend.

On Wednesday, school officials heard from community members at nearby Shady Grove Middle School – which feeds into Magruder.

The remaining sessions will be held Thursday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m., at Flower Hill Elementary School and virtually on Friday, Oct. 27, from 12pm-1pm via Zoom.