Civil Rights Pioneer Receives Inaugural Leadership Award From Harford Initiative

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A civil rights leader in Harford County has been given the 2023 Harford Civil Rights Project – Civil Rights Leadership Award.

Janice East Moorehead Grant was given the inaugural award Feb. 9 at a reception held at Harford Community College. The award represents lifetime achievement and dedication to civil rights. Moorehead Grant was born in Aberdeen in 1933 and grew up in the Jim Crow era. She attended segregated schools and graduated from the Havre de Grace Colored School in 1951.

After college, Moorehead Grant taught at the Havre de Grace Consolidated School where she quickly became a leader among her fellow educators in advocating for rights and equal treatment for students and teachers of color. She was a key plaintiff in the final and successful lawsuit filed against Harford County Public Schools in 1964 to completely desegregate the district ahead of its existing plan that would take until 1967, 13 years after the 1954 Supreme Court decision (Brown vs. the Board of Education) declaring segregated schools “inherently unequal.”

Moorehead Grant helped lead the effort to overcome one of the final barriers to full school desegregation in Harford: the district’s determined efforts to prevent Black teachers from teaching white students. She advocated for full equal opportunity for black students and educators in Harford County along with her late husband, Woody Grant.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Grant also became a leader in various efforts in Harford County and
greater Baltimore in support of civil rights. She led protests for fair housing, open schools and greater economic equality through employment. She mentored the Harford NAACP youth chapter in these years and was arrested twice: once in Joppatowne while demonstrating against housing discrimination and another time while protesting racial exclusion at the Gwynn Oak Park amusement park in Baltimore County.

Moorehead Grant led efforts to desegregate Harford restaurants on Route 40 and supported the 1961 Freedom Ride. She provided support to residents and others involved in the 1963 March on Washington. In 1964, she participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer effort to register voters and set up “Freedom Schools” in the state. She faced violent racist opposition in Mississippi, at one point finding safety by hiding in the trunk of a car.

Later, she and Woody joined the Peace Corps. She served as a teacher in Liberia where she also
earned one of her three master's degrees. In the 1990s, she served as the president of Harford’s
NAACP chapter, leading civil rights efforts for Black soldiers stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground among other actions. Moorehead Grant remains active as a civil rights leader in the Harford community, serving as a board member of The Havre de Grace Colored School Museum and Cultural Center and she is a member of the NAACP. She regularly participates in various activities and events, sharing her life story and wisdom in support of civil rights.