This typescript account was written by Father Canisius Hinde of Whitefriars Hall of the Carmelite Church in Washington, D.C. His report details the involvement of members of the Carmelite Church in the protests and demonstrations in Cambridge, Maryland on May 11, 1964. The five page report (with an additional newspaper clipping xerox) offers a first-hand account from a demonstrator whose account concluded with the following post-script: "I am sure some day a book will be written on how these freedom songs accomplish ends that seem almost contradictory...instilling courage, solidarity and purpose. They are eloquent in asserting right and justice and yet they mellow the spirits on both ends of the bayonet and club in the direction of fraternal love."

According to the mission of the Carmelite Church: "The Carmelites of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, in allegiance to Jesus Christ, live in a prophetic and contemplative stance of prayer, common life, and service."

The Whitefriars Hall in Washington, D.C. is considered the church's house of studies.

Cambridge, MD, garnered national attention throughout the 1960s due to its role in the civil rights movement. Cambridge saw its first civil rights demonstrations and sit-ins in early 1962, which led to the founding of the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (CNAC).

During the spring and summer of 1963, CNAC began to hold marches in protest of the town’s various segregated facilities, economic inequalities, lack of civic representation, and other injustices faced in the Second Ward, a largely African American section of the town. Spearheading these demonstrations was activist and Dorchester native Gloria Richardson. Demonstrators were met with counter protests and violence, prompting Governor J. Millard Tawes to enact martial law in Cambridge.

After the protests gained attention from the nation’s capital, meetings were held between Richardson, CNAC, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Arising from this meeting was the Treaty of Cambridge, which pledged to speed up desegregation efforts and enact several other changes in the African American community. While the agreement signified progress in Cambridge, local business associations ultimately thwarted desegregation efforts outlined in the Treaty, and the town would continue to face racial strife in the following years.