Growing Up in Sykesville: A Conversation with Deidre Lynn Johnson Kimbrow

School Days and Community Life

Dee attended Freedom Elementary, where her mother taught. When Eldersburg Elementary opened, many of her African American friends were redistricted there, leaving her as the only Black student at Freedom for several years. “It was isolating at times, but by middle school we were all back together again,” she says. She later graduated from South Carroll High School, before Liberty High was even built. Her school years were filled with music and community involvement. She played in the band and even ran for Miss Sykesville, earning runner-up. “I thought, why not try something different?” she laughs.

Main Street Memories

Like many longtime residents, Dee vividly remembers the Sykesville Main Street of her childhood: Forsythe’s Grocery Store, McDougall’s Pharmacy, Tubby Hayes’ Gas Station, the Firehouse, even a small five-lane duckpin bowling alley across from St. Paul’s Church. One memory that stands out is of a classmate from school who studied cosmetology at the vo-tech and went on to work in a Main Street beauty salon. “I believe she may have been the only African American to ever work there,” Dee notes. For her, it was a quiet but powerful example of representation in a time when such opportunities weren’t common. But not all memories were easy. “Not everyone was welcoming,” she admits, recalling a few encounters with prejudice. “I just chose not to entertain the negativity. My mom always taught me to stay positive.”