Two of WVU Potomac State College’s most distinguished alumni have deep connections to a historical house 20 miles from campus in Cumberland, MD.
Both Henry Louis “Skip” Gates and his brother, Dr. Paul “Rocky” Gates of Piedmont attended WVU Potomac State College. One brother went on to become a figure in pop culture – as part of the now-famous Obama Beer Summit and as a host of the PBS program Finding Your Roots. The other made a name for himself as a renowned dentist and oral surgeon.
In fact, the Gates Family is so connected to PSC that a wall honoring student and faculty contributions to the campus bears their surname. The Potomac State College Scholars’ Wall was originally conceived to recognize the academic activities of Potomac State College’s students, alumni, and faculty. During the early deliberations, the College planned to name the wall in honor of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. When Dr. Gates entered Potomac State, his intention was to become a physician. That ambition was short-lived, however, when he was introduced to the captivating world of language and literature by Professor Tony “Duke” Whitmore. Dr. Gates credits Dr. Whitmore with forever changing his life and consequently helping to redefine the meaning of America through the research of Dr. Gates and his colleagues. Upon Dr. Whitmore’s death and during the planning stages of the wall, Dr. Gates requested that the name of the wall be changed to include the name of Dr. Tony “Duke” Whitmore, so that the student and his mentor may be honored together.” The Whitmore Gates wall is located on Campus Drive in front of Academy Hall.
Not only are both Gates brothers part of the College’s history, they also are part of regional and community history. Their great-great-grandmother was a trailblazer in her own right. Jane Gates was the first Black woman to purchase her own house in Allegany County, MD.
“The great-great-grandmother of Skip and Rocky Gates was a former slave. Just five years before she bought her own house, she was sold at auction for $500. Her children were also slaves. The man who bought Jane also bought her children. In his will, he said Jane could be free three years after his death, but her sons would be sold to a good master within the state,” said John Gates, vice president of the Jane Gates Foundation. “However, after that man – Christian Stotler – died, Maryland made slavery illegal anyway, and so the boys and their mother were free.”
One of her sons was Edward Gates, the great-grandfather to Skip and Rocky, the two brothers who would later first attend college at PSC and continue to this day to endow scholarships here for future generations.
The sixth annual Jane Gates Day was held at the house – now a historic landmark – on Monday, August 31. The event was filled with local dignitaries. The Mayor of Cumberland, Ray Morriss, was in attendance, as were two members of city council – Rock Cioni and Eugene Frazier. History teachers and festival directors from Frostburg State University and Allegany College of Maryland were there.
Also in attendance was Dr. Jerry Wallace, president of WVU PSC. Wallace was there to represent the College that served as the educational foundation for two of the most notable members of the Gates family. It was the first time the president from any of the local colleges has attended the event since it was first established in 2021.
“Jane Gates story is remarkable,” Wallace said. “I was touched to learn her plight from being enslaved to becoming a homeowner in a time period where survival alone was hard for African Americans. I commend Johnny, Sukh, the Gates family, and the Cumberland community for preserving this important history. It was my pleasure to attend the event and learn about Jane’s journey.”
Not a great deal is known about Gates personally. Sukh Gates, wife of Jane Gates’ third-great-grandson John Gates, serves as the President of the Jane Gates Foundation. The Foundation not only oversees scholarships – like one given annually to a student at PSC – it also maintains the historic home.
“Jane Gates was a former slave who was able to purchase property within six years after the end of the Civil War,” Sukh Gates said. “On August 31, 1871, Jane Gates recorded a deed for the purchase price of $1,400 for a parcel of land on Greene Street in Cumberland. She is listed in the 1870 United States Federal Census working as a laundress and nurse. Jane independently maintained her home and family.”
The census records Jane Gates as living at 515 Greene Street in 1870, meaning that she was already in residence at that address and had probably already paid the owner, Richard Bender, the purchase price, though the actual deed was not issued until 1871. It is not known precisely when Gates moved into the house with her daughter Laura, her grandchildren Jennie and David, and her son Edward. The $1,400 cost of the house and property would be equivalent to roughly $30,000 in 2021.
“Did she save that money herself from her own labor, or with the help of her children? Was it gifted to her? Was it a loan? We may probably never know,” John Gates said.
The Gates family continuously owned the property for 70 years from 1871 until it was sold in 1941. In 2007, the home was returned to the family when it was purchased by John and Sukh Gates for the purpose of establishing the Foundation and opening the building as a museum and active learning center for young people. Henry Louis Gates Jr. also serves on the Foundation board.
It is the goal of the Gates Foundation to use Jane’s history to inspire those who visit her home, and to instruct students about the adversity overcome by women like Jane Gates.
The discovery of soapwort growing in the garden at the back of the Jane Gates House illuminates even more of Jane’s story. As a laundress, she would have used this plant, commonly employed as a laundry detergent, for cleaning fabrics – and the indications of a fire pit and tripod nearby make it probable that Jane boiled and cleaned her clients’ clothes outdoors in the garden, making the use of soapwort even more likely.
Restoring and operating The Jane Gates Heritage Center doesn’t come cheap, however.
“The House’s restoration efforts are being funded through grants from The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, which is also overseeing historical accuracy to the late 1800s, and through donations,” explains Sukh Gates. “The Jane Gates Heritage House will serve as one of a few historical properties in the area. As a monument to the struggle for African Americans even in a city where the minority population is small, the impact of the story of the Jane Gates Heritage House will be a great asset to all who visit the site.”
For more photos of Jane Gates Day visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/potomacstateweb/albums/72177720335402273