Twelve acres will be open to the public Annapolis (October 7, 2009) -County Executive John R. Leopold today announced that the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has approved a Right of Entry Agreement granting the County stewardship over the historic Crownsville Hospital Cemetery. "I am proud the County can now provide the cemetery with the long-term protection worthy of this historic site and hallowed ground," County Executive Leopold said. "I am especially pleased that the families of those buried on site will be given the opportunity to visit regularly and care for their ancestors." The Crownsville Hospital Center was established by an act of the Maryland General Assembly on April 11, 1910 as the "Hospital for the Negro Insane of Maryland." The more than 1,800 patients buried at the cemetery are identified only by numbers on their tombstones. The Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks is now responsible for maintenance and security of the 12-acre burial ground. "I am pleased County Executive Leopold made good on a promise he initiated as a State Delegate in 2004 when he co-sponsored HB 1351 to preserve, protect, maintain and open to the public the Crownsville State Hospital Cemetery," said Janice Hayes-Williams, a local historian who researched the names of those buried at the site. | 
