The Musical Inn
a Freedom Ride destination
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The Musical Inn was a bar/restaurant listed in Congress of Racial Equality's (CORE) brochure and targeted by Freedom Riders in December 1961 for its segregated practices. It was listed in the CORE brochure with the group of "Restaurants Still Segregated Along Route 40." This designation meant that it's ownership either agreed to desegregate previously then went back to segregation, or never agreed to desegregate in the first place.
According to a report in the Baltimore Afro-American, a troubling incident occurred near the restaurant. Someone poured a bucket of cold water from a nearby 2nd-floor window on Aberdeen Proving Ground-based soldier John Burdon from Alabama. Burdon picketed near the restaurant during the Freedom Ride. Burdon told Afro reporter George Collins: "I want to benefit from what I have been asked to defend."
The Musical Inn lasted as an Aberdeen restaurant and lounge until 2015. In 2020, the building transformed into Alina's Asian Cuisine.