The New Ideal Diner

A Desegregated Diner on Route 40

By James Karmel
The New Ideal Diner had already desegregated in agreement with CORE before the Dec. 1961 Freedom Ride on Route 40.

The New Ideal Diner existed in downtown Aberdeen, Maryland in 1961 and into the 21st century. In 1961, it was listed as the "Ideal" restaurant in the CORE brochure for Freedom Riders and listed as "Desegregated." Therefore, it probably stuck to the agreement reached between restaurant owners and CORE earlier in 1961. It was not a Freedom Ride destination on Dec. 16, 1961 although probably tested for it's racial policies by CORE activists in the weeks before.

The iconic diner building still exists in Aberdeen. In 2021 it operated as a seafood store.

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104 South Philadelphia Boulevard (Pulaski Highway), Aberdeen, Maryland 21001 ~ The New Ideal building is two blocks west or down from Bel Air Avenue and Route 40 in Aberdeen. It is on the left side of Route 40, on the service road between Custis and Market streets.

Cite this Page

James Karmel, “The New Ideal Diner,” Harford Civil Rights Project, accessed October 27, 2021, https://harfordcivilrights.org/items/show/21.

Subjects

Published on Sep 29, 2021. Last updated on Sep 30, 2021.