Courtesy Photo John T. White and his wife are buried in the Christ Reformed Cemetery in Middletown. White, an educator and poet, was born in Middletown, but spent much of his life in Cumberland, where he penned new words for “Maryland, My Maryland.” Purchase this photo

John T. White, a Frederick County native, educator and poet, penned these alternate words to Maryland's state song in 1894, 33 years after James Ryder Randall wrote the decidedly less bucolic "despot's heel is on the shore."

A bill before the General Assembly would change the lyrics from the battle hymn written by the Confederate-leaning Randall on the eve of the Civil War to White's version, which praises the state's natural beauty and proud history.

White was born in Middletown and is buried in the Christ Reformed Cemetery there.

Despite the local connection, all but one of Frederick 's state lawmakers oppose the change.

"This is a piece that represents its time," Delegate Galen Clagett, D-Frederick , said of Randall's version. "I see no need to make a change, regardless of who wrote it."

None of Frederick 's representatives know anything about John T. White. They were interested to learn about his lyrics, but weren't inclined to make a change.

"I'm not one to be so politically correct that we have to replace everything that comes along because people think it's a little different," said Delegate Paul Stull, R-Frederick .

"I like history, I'm traditionalist," said Sen. Alex Mooney, R-Frederick and Washington. "I wouldn't support a change. You just gotta put things in their proper context."

Sen. David Brinkley, R-Frederick and Carroll, said the new song is just the politically correct crowd trying to rewrite history.

"Try as they like, Maryland was a Southern leaning state," he said.

Delegate Rick Weldon, unaffiliated, opposes the change, but believes a public hearing on the proposal could be used to teach children that many states held conflicting views on slavery and states' rights.

"We shouldn't rewrite history, we should simply teach history," he said. "A bill hearing would allow that point to be made."

Delegate Sue Hecht, D-Frederick , said she would listen to both sides but shares the concern about rewriting history.

"Whether we like those words today, it was part of our history at the time," Hecht said.

"That's what was going on at the time, it's a reflection of history of that era," said Delegate Donald Elliott, R-Frederick .

The lone exception is Delegate Joseph Bartlett, R-Frederick , who represents Middletown .

Bartlett said that once he read White's song in the proposed bill, it resonated with him. He particularly liked the line, "Thine is a precious history."

"If taking a little time and amending the state song further accentuates that precious history, then let's go for it," Bartlett said.

Who was White?

John T. White, born in 1856, was one of six children of a Middletown merchant, according to "Portrait and Biographical Record of the Sixth District," published in 1898. His father served for a time as the president of Frederick County's board of school commissioners.

After attending Middletown schools, White went to Mercersburg College. He graduated in 1878, then tutored Latin and Greek for a year, before moving to Mauch Chunk, Pa., where he was principal of both the grammar and high schools.

White moved to Cumberland in 1885. He was a school administrator and superintendent for more than 20 years, according to the text of House Bill 1241. He served as president of the Maryland State Teachers' Association and was "noted as one of the most successful educators in the State during the end of the 19th century," the bill states.

In 1879, White married Alice Eberly of Mercersburg, Pa. The Whites were members of St. Mark's Reformed Church and "popular in the best social circles of Cumberland," according to "Portrait and Biographical Record."

White was more than an educator, the book states: "As a poet, he is known throughout the state."

He wrote a verse titled "The Birth of Christ," which he had published as a gift book, as well as a poem on "Gettysburg."

He gave a lecture around the state, "Immortelles in Poetry," and advocated the memorization of songs and poems in schools.

In a speech before the Southern Educational Association in 1900, he encouraged his colleagues to "wander through the meadows of poetry inhaling the rich and precious perfume of her countless flowers whose divine essence will be forever breathed in the cloudless realm of eternity."

One visit by White to his birthplace was recorded in the July 21, 1882, Valley Register, which stated White and his wife spent their summer vacation with his mother and sister in Middletown shortly after his father's death. The story states that his return to "the old homestead, where it was his wont to meet and hold daily converse with this now departed parent, must have caused him many sad thoughts."

White died in 1924. He and his wife are buried near his parents in the Middletown cemetery.

Why now?

Delegate Pamela Beidle, D-Anne Arundel, asked for the change in the state song in response to letters from fourth graders in her district.

When she looked at the lyrics, she thought about what would happen if President Barack Obama came to visit Maryland and someone sang those words.

"I realized, those children are right, this is not a song we can be proud of," Beidle said.

Times have changed, she said, and so should Maryland's state song.

"Back when the song was written, people owned slaves," Beidle said. "Should we go back to owning slaves because we don't want to rewrite history?"

This is not the first time a state lawmaker has tried to change the words to "Maryland, My Maryland."

In 2002, Sen. Jennie M. Forehand, D-Montgomery, called the song "borderline embarrassing" and "gory" in a Washington Post story on her efforts to adopt White's lyrics in place of Randall's. She had the backing of the state archivist, but was opposed by legislators including Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.

Miller likens the debate over the state song to the controversy over a statue of U.S. Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, author of the infamous Dred Scott decision declaring African Americans could never be citizens.

"People from Frederick and elsewhere wanted to tear down the statue (of Taney)," Miller said last week. "And that was wrong. So instead we put a Thurgood Marshall statue over here on the other side."

The state song should be remembered as a martial song to get people engaged, he said, adding that Oliver Wendell Holmes said it was the greatest fighting song he ever heard.

"It was sung over, over and over again," Miller said.

Miller has two original copies of "Maryland, My Maryland," handwritten by James Ryder Randall.

One copy hangs in his home, and he plans to bring the other one in to hang below a portrait of Randall in his Senate office.

He believes both history and change should be respected.

Virginia lawmakers named an "emeritus" state song but never adopted a new one. Such a compromise could work here, he said.

"You adjust and move on."