The Nationwide Human Chain That Passed Through Laurel
- Diane Mezzanotte
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
This May 25th marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most iconic charitable events ever held: Hands Across America. The goal was to form a human chain stretching across the country to raise money to fight homelessness and hunger in the United States. Although skeptics called the idea impossible, the organizers were highly successful in their endeavor, notwithstanding a few gaps in the desert.
More than 150 miles of the human chain ran through Maryland, including a long stretch along Route 1 through College Park, Hyattsville, Beltsville, and Laurel. Some Laurel residents who participated in the event shared their memories with me—and we compared notes, because I, too, took part in the event somewhere in the countryside of western Pennsylvania.
Building on the Success of “We are the World”
Hands Across America (HANDS) was the second massive charitable event organized by a non-governmental organization called USA for Africa. Its wildly successful “We Are the World” single and music video had launched in March 1985 and raised over $80 million to help fight hunger in Africa. That helped to build momentum for a related event that July: the famous Live Aid concerts. Taking place over 16 hours at two venues—London’s Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium—the star-studded concerts were broadcast live around the world and raised over $120 million for relief efforts in Africa.
Fresh off those events, USA for Africa launched HANDS in October 1985 to bring awareness to the homeless problem in the U.S. and to raise funds for hunger-related charities. Led by founding sponsor Coca-Cola, more than 70 corporations signed on to sponsor the event, joined by hundreds of churches, civic organizations, and media outlets who helped spread the word and enlist participants. Anyone wishing to reserve a spot in the line was asked to donate $10; an official tee shirt to be worn during the event was available for an extra donation. Celebrities could sponsor a mile of the route for $13,200 (to cover the estimated 1,320 people needed per mile); music megastar Prince reportedly was the first to do so. A theme song was recorded—featuring relatively unknown singers Joe Cerisano and Sandy Farina, backed by the hugely popular band Toto—and a star-studded music video was launched in January to coincide with the Super Bowl.
After months of preparation and publicity, at 3 pm EDT on May 25, 1986, hundreds of radio stations across the country simultaneously played the event’s theme song as 5.4 million people held hands in a line stretching nationwide over 13 states, from New York City to Long Beach, California. The chain held for 15 minutes as participants sang along to the event’s theme song, as well as “We Are the World” and “America the Beautiful,” playing from boomboxes and car radios along the route.
Laurel Area Participants Remember
Beth Robinson, a lifelong Laurelite, remembers hearing about HANDS on local radio station WPGC. “They talked about it for weeks,” she says. Intrigued by the idea, she purchased both the 45-rpm single and the official tee shirt and marked her calendar. “I remember my husband and I wanted it to be successful, but we weren’t sure people would participate.” They were proven wrong when they left their home around 1 pm on the day of the event to take their spot near the Laurel Mall. “We saw tons of people walking toward Route 1,” Robinson remembers. “People had parked at the Montgomery Ward’s lot, and everyone was lining up on the side of the road. People were playing music on their radios, and we all were hanging out.” At the designated time of 3 pm, she says, “everyone grabbed hands. As far as you could see, up and down Route 1, hundreds of strangers held hands and rocked back and forth while they were singing. I thought it was so cool.” She says she has vivid memories of the event and considers it one of the neatest things she has ever done. In terms of excitement, “I would liken it to when I saw Elvis Presley perform at Cole Field House at University of Maryland.”
Nicole Scafone, who grew up in the Hyattsville-Beltsville corridor, also participated in HANDS. She was 11 at the time and heard about the event on the radio and from school friends at St. Jerome’s. She and her family bought the tee shirts and the record and participated in it together. “We were given a spot when we registered,” Scafone remembers. “We and other families from our block stood outside the childcare center at St. Jerome’s. We waited on the sidewalks until it was time to move to the street. It was so crowded, all along Route 1, and the line was doubled up.” She doesn’t remember whether the reason behind the event made an impression on her at the time. “At 11, I was just excited to be doing something different like that. Fun was fun!”
Another longtime Laurel resident also remembers the event. Frank Sandor had just moved to Laurel in 1983. “I don’t even know how I knew about it,” Sandor says. “We didn’t have the kind of media access we do now.” He remembers that it was a sunny Sunday afternoon when he and his daughter, who was 3, made their way to their assigned spot along Route 1 by the California Inn. “I wanted my daughter to experience it,” he says. “It came at a time when the world was coming together as a community, with Live Aid and ‘We Are the World.’ It was a very uplifting thing, a sort of kumbaya moment.” He loved how people were singing together, and how unifying the experience was. To commemorate the event, Sandor picked up a rock and wrote “Hands Across America” and the date on it to keep as a memento.
HANDS Leaves a Legacy
Looking back on HANDS, it’s hard to believe that an event of such magnitude was so effectively organized without the benefit of the Internet and social media. Overall, the human chain really did connect the country—both figuratively and literally. There were some gaps here and there, but people worked together to help the organizers find creative solutions wherever possible. Ranchers in New Mexico lined up their cattle to fill a gap; “Boats Across the Alleghany” bridged a river-driven gap in Pittsburgh; participants in sparsely populated areas used long ribbons and ropes to connect their segments; in New Jersey, public transit pulled over and had their riders fill any gaps they saw; and, here in Maryland, a Maryland-based scuba diving group went underwater in the Susquehanna River to connect the line between Perryville and Havre de Grace when permission to use the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge was denied.
All told, approximately 5.5 million people participated in HANDS and over $36 million was donated—with the bulk of the donations coming from individual participants rather than corporations. After expenses, though, just $15 million was left for hunger-related charities, leading to some criticism. Spokespeople from USA for Africa, however, considered the event a success, noting that $15 million was a significant amount and that the event, along with Live Aid and “We Are the World,” created a new sense of community and compassion that would continue into the future.
Robinson is a good example of that lasting effect. She credits HANDS for helping to raise awareness of hunger in America, which she notes is still a very real issue. “I especially get upset knowing that 60 percent of our military members E4 [rank] and below still rely on food stamps.” While on lengthy work assignments overseas, Robinson and her husband helped servicemembers by collecting and distributing coupons for diapers, baby formula, and other expensive necessities, to be used at the base’s commissary.
A Gallup Poll taken a year after HANDS showed a huge increase in volunteer activities across the country, largely inspired by the groundswell of public support for the three events (“We Are the World,” Live Aid, and HANDS). Prior to 1985, only about 14 percent of Americans had regularly donated their time, skills, or money to charitable causes; in 1987, that percentage leaped to 45 percent, per the Gallup poll. After that initial surge, the rate of volunteerism slowly decreased, but has consistently been reported as between 25 and 30 percent for the last 40 years, with a drastic but short-lived uptick immediately following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in 2001.
Clearly, HANDS and its sister events did help to change the world. For many of us, it remains an indelible memory of a sunny day in May when the whole country joined hands.
Diane Mezzanotte is a staff writer and member of the Board of Directors for The Laurel History Boys. In addition to covering Laurel city municipal news, she also reports on all things from South Laurel.
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