Cambridge Indivisible to Read "The Dorchester Resolves" at Courthouse July 2, Holding Every Level of Government to Account
Costumed reading on the courthouse steps, followed by a tour of the newly reopened Harriet Tubman Museum
Contact: Michelle Fowle, Co-Founder, Cambridge Indivisible
Email: info@cambridgeindivisible.org Phone: (410) 571-4862
CAMBRIDGE, MD — June 25, 2026 — On Thursday, July 2, Cambridge Indivisible will gather in front of the Dorchester County Courthouse to read aloud "The Dorchester Resolves of 2026," a citizens' declaration modeled on the colonial Resolves that Maryland communities issued at their courthouses in 1774. The reading begins at 5 p.m. by the Harriet Tubman statue at 206 High St.
The Resolves are a plain accounting of grievances at every level of government — from the President, to Congress and the district's own representative, to the State of Maryland, to the Dorchester County Council, to Cambridge City Hall — and of what each owes the people of the Eastern Shore.
At the federal level, they cite presidential overreach, unlawful tariffs that raise costs for watermen and farmers, deportations carried out without due process, and roughly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. They note that Rep. Andy Harris, who represents Dorchester County in Washington, voted for final passage of the 2025 budget law and defended it in print as "a win for Maryland." About 188,800 people in his district rely on Medicaid; the law's new work requirements fall on working-age adults — including the 54,300 covered through the ACA expansion — who must now document 80 hours a month or lose coverage. Children are not directly subject, but when a parent loses coverage to the new paperwork, the children in that household often lose it too. Maryland's two U.S. senators voted against the bill.
The cuts land hard in a county that has already lost its full-service hospital; the Cambridge facility now operates as a freestanding emergency center serving some 20,000 people a year. The Resolves call on the State of Maryland to act as a firewall — to protect Medicaid and food assistance and refuse to lend state resources to unconstitutional federal action — and call on the Dorchester County Council and the Cambridge city government to put local residents first.
"In 1774, people who'd had enough walked to the courthouse and read their grievances out loud, with their names attached," said Michelle Fowle, co-founder and co-chair of Cambridge Indivisible. "We're doing the same — and we're not stopping at Washington. We're naming what's being done to families on this Shore, and naming everyone with the power to stop it: the President, our own congressman, Annapolis, the county council, and our own City Hall."
After the reading, attendees will walk a few blocks to the newly reopened Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center at 424 Race St. for a tour led by director Linda Harris. Organizers chose the courthouse deliberately: on that same ground, men, women and children were once bought and sold, and Dorchester County is the birthplace of Harriet Tubman.
"There is no ground in America better suited to this than Dorchester County," said Andy Fowle, co-chair of Cambridge Indivisible. "Harriet Tubman was born into slavery here and chose freedom anyway. We're asking our neighbors to stand on that history, hear the Resolves read aloud, and add their names to the record."
The gathering is peaceful, public and family-friendly. It is staged as a period piece, with participants in 1774 dress and a volunteer serving as town crier. Period dress is encouraged but not required. Attendees are asked to gather by the Harriet Tubman statue.
About Cambridge Indivisible: Cambridge Indivisible is a volunteer-led, grassroots organization based in Dorchester County, Maryland, working for democracy, civil rights and accountable government on the Eastern Shore.
The Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center is a nonprofit organization recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is strictly nonpartisan. The Museum & Educational Center does not support or oppose any political party, candidate for public office, or partisan political organization, nor does it participate or intervene in any political campaign. While the Museum & Educational Center may present historical content that includes political topics as part of the historical record, such programming is offered solely for educational purposes and does not advocate contemporary political positions. All Museum & Educational Center activities, programs and communications are conducted in accordance with applicable nonprofit and tax-exempt laws.
###
