Clarence Leo Young was born April 23, 1921 in Budds Creek, MD. He was the son of late Woodley and Susan A. Bowman Young. He attended St. Mary's County public school system. He served in the United States Army during WWII from June 14, 1944 to February 28, 1946. He was briefly employed with the Naval Ordinance Laboratory in Indian Head, MD. He was a sharecropper for many years. After sharecropping, he started his own business, C. Leo Excavating Services.

He speaks about how poorly Blacks were treated in the War saying they always got "the short end of the stick." This sparked his energy and enthusiasm to fight the segregated system; he wanted his "freedom."
 

He was a member of the Banneker School Parent Teachers Association. Mr. Young was appointed to the St. Mary’s County Board of Education in 1955 by Governor Thomas R. McKeldin.  He served two five-year terms and was the first Black to hold the position of Vice President. He also was an active member of the St. Mary's County Branch of the NAACP.

Mr. Young used his time on the school board to challenge the segregated system and to push for reforms mandated by the Supreme Court Brown v. BOE.  He speaks about the tension between himself and the school superintendent, Lettie Dent, who had threatened she would not serve with a Black on the Board of Education. He committed his energies to the fight for equal rights and equal access to education.   He also recalls how the Black community responded to the Court's mandate with some siding with him and others not wanting to make waves.  He discusses the Groves family and how he worked with them to force Great Mills High School to allow Joan and Conrad Groves to attend (1958-1960). He was a former member of the St. Joseph's Church choir. His favorite pastime activities were playing the guitar, dancing, taking pictures, playing cards and reminiscing with family and friends.
 

Mr. Young was interviewed at the Bayside Care Center (now known as Bayside Nursing and Rehab Center) on April 6, 2004 by Merideth Taylor and Bob Lewis for the Great Mills High School Oral History Project (a program of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions Oral History Project). At 83 years of age, Mr. Young is quite sharp in the mind and remembers quite a lot about the desegregation of St. Mary’s County public schools.
 

Resources:

• ​Obituary  [written by the family – from Brinsfield Funeral Home  https://www.brinsfieldfuneral.com/obituary/clarence-young-sr   accessed November 25, 2025]

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