Barbara Ann Mikulski (1936-)
MSA SC 3520-2094
Extended Biography:
Senator Barbara Ann Mikulski is both a role model in civic engagement and an inspiration to those on the margins. Mikulski started out as a social worker fighting a highway that threatened her beloved hometown, and is now the longest-serving woman in Congress, the first woman to chair the influential Senate Appropriations Committee, and Maryland’s longest serving representative.1 2 The long list of titles and achievements that honor Mikulski’s almost 50 years serving Maryland reflect this senator’s undying devotion to her community and a commitment to political progress.
Barbara Mikulski was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 20, 1936. Her parents, Christine and William Mikulski, and her two younger sisters, Christine and Frances, lived in the East Baltimore neighborhood of Highlandtown.3 Right across from their house, her family ran the mom-and-pop grocery store, Willie’s Food Market.4 5
Highlandtown was home to a large and tight-knit Polish community, of which the Mikulskis were pillars.6 As a child, Mikulski was babysat by her great-grandmother, Eleanor Kurek, a Polish immigrant who had left Poland at 16 years of age for an arranged marriage and in search of opportunity. Mikulski's grandparents’ would eventually open a bakery in East Baltimore, and their son, Mikulski’s father William, opened up his own grocery store.7 Being brought up by her proudly Polish family in their tight-knit community, Mikulski developed a deep fondness for her roots and a camaraderie with other Eastern European immigrants in Baltimore.
Mikulski was not only raised to be proud of her heritage, but she was also raised to honor this heritage through service to her neighbors. Mikulski recounted that “Everyday my mother and father would walk across the street, open up those doors [of their grocery store] and say, 'Good morning, can I help you?'”8 While her parents would allow a struggling neighbor to open up a line of credit in their store, Mikulski would deliver food to the homebound elderly.9 Service to the community was one of Mikulski’s greatest values as she grew up.
Mikulski’s childhood was replete with strong female figures who inspired her to achieve despite the discrimination she faced as a woman. When she was a young girl attending the Sacred Heart of Jesus School, the future senator was also a member of the church’s Troop No. 239 Brownies and later Girl Scouts.10 Mikulski proudly remembered that it was with the Girl Scouts where she learned the values of volunteerism and betterment of her community. Mikulski also greatly admired the nuns who taught her at the Institute of Notre Dame, an all-girls Catholic high school. She remembered their vast intelligence and quiet power, and, for a time, had dreams of joining the convent.11 Some of Mikulski’s greatest female mentors, however, were the matriarchs of her family. Mikulski grew up profoundly inspired by her great-grandmother’s quest for a better life, and both Mikulski’s grandmother and mother were successful entrepreneurs and community leaders. Her grandmother helped run the family bakery, and her mother managed Willie’s Grocery Store. Mikulski’s mother, Christine was remembered as the “First Lady of Highlandtown,” because of her service to the neighborhood and her activity with the Polish Women’s Alliance and the Holy Family Society.12 13 14
With such encouraging mentors, Mikulski grew up with a passion for helping others and an undying love of her hometown. Her childhood neighbor marveled, “If you wanted to get something done, you got hold of Barbara.”15 Mikulski’s passion for her community and for helping those in need led her to earn a Bachelors of Science in Sociology from Mount St. Agnes College (a women’s college that later merged with Loyola College) in 1958, and a Masters of Social Work (M.S.W.) with the University of Maryland in 1965.16 While studying for her M.S.W., Mikulski specialized in social strategy, because she wanted to help communities organize so that they could help themselves.17 After earning her M.S.W., Mikulski went on to work with the Catholic Charities of Baltimore as a social worker and then the Department of Social Services as their associate chief of community organizing. With both of these organizations, Mikulski helped families access resources like welfare programs, championed legal reform, and promoted the rights of elders.18
In the late 1960s, Mikulski took a break from her work with Social Services and started teaching at local Baltimore colleges. At this time, Mikulski was also spurred into her next big project: halting the construction of a 16-lane highway through her hometown. In the 1960s and into the early 1970s, controversy surrounding this East-West expressway bloomed, because the enormous project would run right through downtown Baltimore, destroying homes and communities in its wake. Mikulski and other concerned East Baltimoreans organized to raise awareness about the plan, and to coalesce with the West Baltimoreans who would also be affected.19 Mikulski knocked from door to door to spread the word about the highway and gain support for her movement, she facilitated neighborhood planning meetings that brought together both Black and White community members from different neighborhoods, and led protests throughout the city. One of these protests occurred during the 1969 Fells Point Festival, where she belted out over a megaphone that, “the British couldn’t take Fells Point, the termites couldn’t take Fells Point and we don’t think the State Roads Commission can take Fells Point either.”20 Through Mikulski and her fellow community activists’ orchestrations, powerful community organizations started to develop. The Southeast Community Organization (SECO) was one such group that took root through the early work of Mikulski and her colleagues. SECO began in the early 1970s and, at its inception, was made up of 1,000 neighborhood representatives who managed to move the power of the neighborhood to the ethnic minorities of Southeast Baltimore who felt silenced by the city.21 22
Mikulski’s work to build solidarity between disparate communities was an incredible feat, and, as she believed, a key to creating positive social change. It was also an argument that she had made in a 1970 New York Times editorial called, “Who Speaks for Ethnic America?” wherein Mikulski outlined the ways in which ethnic Americans, or those who originate from Central and Eastern Europe and reside in the United States, are subjugated by an upper class majority and pitted against Black Americans for government resources. She writes of the fight between the ethnic and Black Americans that,
“The two groups end up fighting each other for the same jobs and competing so that the new schools and recreation centers will be built in their respective communities. What results, is angry confrontation for tokens, when there should be an alliance for a whole new Agenda for America. This Agenda would be created if black and white organized separately in their own communities for their own needs and came together to form an alliance based on mutual issues, interdependence and respect.”23
In the fight to stop the expressway, Mikulski did just this. She organized with the predominantly White ethnic population of East Baltimore, the Greeks, Irish, Polish, German, Italians, and then also met with their predominantly Black neighbors in West Baltimore at community meetings and briefings.24 This show of solidarity, both in terms of the multi-ethnic SECO and the interracial coalescing against the highway, was something that ultimately forced the expressway project to be placed on pause until politicians could find an alternative.
With the success of her community organizing around the expressway, Mikulski shifted her sights towards political office. In later interviews, Mikulski cited, as her inspiration for running, the death of her hero, Robert F. Kennedy. She was frustrated that charismatic leaders and their idealistic programs were not doing enough to help people in her neighborhood of East Baltimore.25 In 1971, Mikulski ran for a seat in the Baltimore City Council for the First District, and successfully won that same November. Many were skeptical of her ability to keep up in this political match, because she was facing long-successful political machines who had dominated the first district for generations; however, these political machines were splintering, and Mikulski’s recognition as a voice for ethnic solidarity in urban politics and one of the leaders in the campaign to fight the East-West expressway had gained her many assured votes.26 What won Mikulski the seat was also her grassroots campaigning strategy. Because Mikulski didn’t have the name recognition of her opponents who were backed by powerful, well-known organizations, she worked hard to get out in the First District through face-to-face interactions with her constituents. She continues to pride herself on being direct and being personal: “I like to go out directly to the people. Those sweat equity campaigns of going door to door, neighborhood meetings, community debates. It’s actually looking people directly in the eye and having them ask me questions and then me giving my ideas and plans.”27 Mikulski spoke earnestly to her neighbors about the issues she knew they were facing and that she genuinely wanted to help with. As Elaine Lowry, a community organizer, put it at the time, “She doesn’t condescend. She’s a native and she’s tuned in to what people are thinking.”28 Mikulski’s tactics, a reliance on candor and direct connections to her constituency, are ones she has found sustainable throughout her career.29 Mikulski won her seat on the Council, in part because of the conflicts between political machines, but also because she was an honest neighborhood heroine who could connect with the people.
Mikulski also ran on a strong belief that her First District folks could, in many ways, govern themselves. For example, Mikulski proposed that land in Canton cleared for the East-West expressway should be controlled by a council of people who live near it. In other words, Canton residents could decide for themselves what to do with Canton.30 Her democratic principles made her a popular candidate among neighbors who often felt ignored by big-time politicians.
Mikulski’s priorities for her first years in the City Council were clear: stopping the expressway for good.31 Though the neighborhood organizations had made headway in pausing the construction of the highway, they had not successfully convinced the state to totally scrap the project. The fight to totally stop the highway was not much easier when Mikulski assumed her spot on the Council. Rather she was outvoted 16 to 3 in favor of the highway’s construction. Despite this, Mayor, and future governor, William Donald Schaefer had a sit down with Mikulski after the vote, and they decided that the expressway could be moved away from the neighborhoods and out toward the water.32
With the first major hurdle taken care of, Mikulski could focus on other areas, such as resources for the elderly and working class. Throughout her time on the Council, Mikulski proved herself a worthy politician. Though many of her more conservative colleagues were concerned with how liberal she was, Mikulski was building a large constituency with the elderly, who she gladly championed in her work.33 The city councilwoman, for example, headed up efforts to organize a more powerful committee on aging and retirement for Baltimore City.34 She was also instrumental in developing legislation that would add more services and educational opportunities for the elderly.35 In her time as a social worker, Mikulski had gained important experience and knowledge of Baltimore families’ needs, so many of the older residents in her district appreciated her honest efforts to serve them, and they returned the favor in votes. On the Baltimore City Council, she gained local and national recognition for her support of programs for the elderly.36
While sitting on the Council, Mikulski also began to show up as a leader with the national Democratic Party. She was named the chair of the party’s delegate reform committee in 1973, and in an interview, staunchly challenged her party to host more diversity: “I’d like to see a convention with [Mayor Richard] Daley [a Democratic party regular] sitting next to Gloria Steinem, or a Chicano, or a laborer”.37 Mikulski was passionate about reform within her party, and fought hard with the upper echelons of authority to develop a more powerful party unified in its plurality. The rules Mikulski developed through the reform committee brought forth a resounding change in the Democratic party. Though many were unhappy with the the regulations Mikulski put forth because they threatened the party’s leadership, these new guidelines successfully put Democrat Jimmy Carter in the White House.38 In the 1970s, Mikulski also banded together with the other women in her party to create the Democratic Women’s Agenda of 1976, an effort to boost the voices of women in politics and appeal to the women of the United States.39
With the momentum thrumming from her work with the Democratic Party, Mikulski decided to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1974. She lost this first race to the incumbent, Charles Mathias, but with the recognition she garnered through her campaign, Mikulski easily claimed a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland’s Third District in the next election cycle in 1976. In The Sun’s 1976 endorsement of Mikulski, they write,
“In her relatively brief political career, Ms. Mikulski has shown a genius for focusing public attention on problems that need such attention if they are to be dealt with… She is regularly sought out to speak and write on feminist and ethnic issues, perhaps because she can discuss such emotional questions with a practical goodwill that dispenses with stridency.”40
When Mikulski burst onto the D.C. scene in 1977, she described herself as former Speaker of the House Carl Albert in drag. Her feisty personality, penchant for witty one-liners, and staunch support for her state, ethnic minorities, women, and the working class made her popular with not only Maryland, but the media.41 42
In the House, Mikulski received posts on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee.43 With both groups, Mikulski was able to work closely on the economic health of Maryland. With the Energy and Commerce Committee, which handles 20% of the legislation that passes through the House, Mikulski could focus on Maryland industry, including the railroads and economic development in Baltimore. With the Marine and Fisheries Committee, Mikulski eventually chaired the oceanography subcommittee and worked towards funding Baltimore port dredging, a project that would allow more ship-based transit to occur in Baltimore. In this committee, Mikulski also expertly balanced development and preservation of coastal areas, a topic of great concern for Maryland.44 In the House, Mikulski was a champion for the watermen of Maryland, the port of Baltimore, and the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Though her work in the House did not have the broadly influential appeal of some of her colleagues, Mikulski’s work to bring federal resources to Maryland are laudable. In the early 1980s, Mikulski scored a perfect voting record on federal employee issues according to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). With a vast amount of federal workers living in Maryland, this voting record distinctly demonstrates Mikulski’s loyalty to her constituents.45 Maryland Chamber of Commerce CEO and former Mikulski staffer, Brien Poffenberger, remarked that,
“Sen. Mikulski’s unyielding commitment to the people of Maryland is legendary. She has worked tirelessly and never changed her view that all politics is local, and that her job is to serve the people in their day-to-day needs to as well as to prepare the country for the future.”46
Mikulski’s methodical advancement of Maryland’s welfare did not yield sweeping and historic legislation; rather, it got the job done in her home state, and her constituents were grateful.
In the House, Mikulski was also able to express her passion for social welfare and women’s rights. She held fast in her defense of Social Security and welfare benefits in a period when cuts to social programs were broadly issued. The representative was also an ardent feminist at a time when the women’s movement was cresting in its Second Wave. Mikulski championed the Equal Rights Amendment, helped pass legislation that would support survivors of family violence, argued to increase accessibility to abortion services, and introduced successful resolutions for a week commemorating women in history (which would eventually evolve into Women’s History Month).47 48 49 50 51 In addition to her work on legislation, Mikulski served on the Executive Committee of the Congressional Women’s Caucus, was a delegate at the International Women’s Year Conference in 1980, and became involved with the National Organization for Women and National Women’s Political Caucus.52
During the election of 1984, Mikulski was strongly considered for the vice presidency by Democratic presidential candidate, Walter Mondale. Although Mikulski’s colleague, Geraldine Ferraro, was chosen for the nomination, Mikulski was adamant in her belief that a woman Vice President would not automatically rectify gender equality. In a New York Times editorial, she espoused that, “The problem is that the current enthusiasm for a woman Vice President could ultimately look like tokenism,” and that the real way to end gender inequality and other issues the U.S. faced, was to join together the Democratic party in an effort to make nuanced changes to the nation.53 Mikulski was well-aware of the institutional sexism in society, because she often had to combat it herself. As such, the Congresswoman knew that legislators had to be committed to battling sexism in the many ways that it manifested U.S. society. A woman vice president, while record-breaking, was not enough.
Determined to continue making progress, Mikulski ran for the U.S. Senate again in 1986 after a decade in the House. In this time, she had learned more about politics, legislation, and getting things done in Congress. She had also further endeared herself with Maryland as a national politician who was always in touch with local interests. In addition, Mikulski had matured as a politician. In an interview, she spoke of the philosophy that she and activist, Dorothy Day, share and that she planned on taking into the Senate with her:
“[Dorothy Day] talked about trying to find the hopes of people. Try to find the aspirations of people… As you begin to organize and reach out to people, to help them empower themselves… If you organize on the basis of love, what you give out, you’ll get back. Her philosophy was my philosophy… It’s the philosophy that saves the world, and saves the neighborhood.”54
While campaigning, Mikulski was criticized for not holding the strongest leadership positions in the House; however, her sincerity and indomitable will for making a better Maryland led her to victory. At an invigorating campaign rally, she confidently laid out her plan: “When I go to the United States Senate, I’ll be a voice and I’ll be a vote. And, no matter what, I won’t be overlooked.”55 In the Senate race, Mikulski beat out her Republican opponent, Linda Chavez, by 61% of the vote.56
In the Senate, Mikulski set many precedents and achieved many firsts. She was the first woman elected to a statewide office in Maryland, the first Democratic woman to have served in both Houses of Congress, and the first Democratic woman to hold a Senate seat by being elected on her own right, as opposed to inheriting the seat through the death or absence of a male family member.57 By lobbying early with Senate leadership, Mikulski was initially appointed to the Environment and Public Works Committee, Labor and Human Resources Committee, Small Business Committee, and the powerful Appropriations Committee. Mikulski was the first woman to sit on the Appropriations Committee, an achievement she surpassed in 2012, when she became the first woman to ever chair it.58
Mikulski’s focal points in the Senate were similar to those she had had in the House with a few additions. Mikulski still worked hard on social welfare projects, ensuring that Maryland would receive federal funds, and pushing for women’s rights, but she also worked hard on technology and scientific advancement, and especially cybersecurity, a growing Maryland industry.
As a child, Mikulski looked up to the scientific luminary and fellow Pole, Marie Curie, and dreamed of someday becoming a scientist.59 Though she was eventually led toward the social sciences, Mikulski’s passion for scientific innovation is still very much alive, and expressed in her work in the Senate. As the chair of the scientific agencies subcommittee within Appropriations, Mikulski has greatly influenced research and development in federal agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Though she challenged the NSF to regulate their spending and pushed the NIH to pay more attention to women’s and other minorities’ health issues, she is well-known as a senator that has tirelessly advocated for better funding in scientific fields and advances in research and development.60 61 She proudly looks back on her efforts to save the budget for the Hubble Space Telescope, a technology overseen by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.62 Though Mikulski is set to retire from the Senate in 2016 after her fifth term, Mikulski said she hopes to use the remainder of her time in office to focus on expanding Maryland’s biotechnology and cybersecurity presence, which have flourished in recent years thanks to her support.63
Likewise, Mikulski is also very proud of her continuous efforts to protect and provide for the elderly. As a new senator in 1987, for example, Mikulski helped pass the Spousal Anti-Impoverishment Act, which keeps seniors from going bankrupt while paying for a spouse’s nursing home expenses.64 65 She has also pushed for better NIH funding, so that the agency could continue research on Alzheimer’s disease. After watching her father struggle with the disease later in his life, she has committed herself to guiding federal funds towards Alzheimer’s research.66
Furthermore, as a member and eventually chair of the Appropriations Committee, Mikulski has been one of the top controllers of the federal budget. With this position, Mikulski has continually directed federal funds toward Maryland. She has helped dredge the Chesapeake Bay, compensated flood victims on the Eastern Shore, and has cushioned spending cuts which would have, in their original forms, drastically impacted the hundreds of thousands of federal employees in Maryland.67 In addition to funding, Mikulski has created employment opportunities in Maryland by strengthening Baltimore’s ports and by working with the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) committees to establish military employment in Maryland.68 In an interview with The Sun about her retirement announcement, Mikulski said that, “Quite frankly, I think I've worked the Appropriations Committee pretty good for Maryland.”69
Mikulski has also always been an advocate for putting more women in positions of power, and her career in Congress reflects a passion for supporting all women, no matter their party. When she was first sworn into the Senate, Mikulski was one of only two women (the other was Nancy Kassebaum, a Republican from Kansas). Despite their small numbers, Mikulski and Kassebaum teamed up one day during the 103rd Congress to disrupt a sexist double standard that had plagued them too long. On weekends, men of the Senate were able to dress down in slightly more casual khakis and blazers. The women, however, were still expected to wear skirts. Fed up with this aged standard and, as Mikulski professed, just more comfortable in pants, the two women senators staged what would be called the Pantsuit Rebellion of 1993. They, and all the female staffers who came to the Senate floor, would wear trousers one weekend in spite of tradition. The Senate parliamentarian had to double-check the rules to ensure that women in slacks were not outside of Senate decorum. Once it was confirmed that pantsuits were allowed, women in trousers have been allowed on the Senate floor ever since.70 71
Since her pantsuit protest, Mikulski has seen many more women enter the chamber, and has proudly supported her female colleagues by hosting bipartisan power workshops. In these regular, informal meetings, Mikulski dictates that there are to be “No staff, no memos, and no leaks.” Rather, the meeting provides an opportunity for the Senate women to converse, understand each other, and create networks of support.72 As of 2015, there are 20 women in the Senate, and Mikulski, dubbed the “dean of women,” welcomes them all to her workshops in the hopes of creating more opportunities for women in the upper echelons of U.S. politics.73 "I see that it's my job to be able to organize the women in a way where their talents are served," Mikulski said of her work to join Senate women together.74
In her role as a legislator, Mikulski has been a champion for women’s rights. The senator is a self-described feminist who has worked hard for women’s equality under the law. She sponsored the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which ensured that those who are the victims of unequal pay, as many women are, would be able to fairly challenge that discrepancy in court. The Lily Ledbetter Act was a momentous piece of legislation that many women across the nation championed, and it was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009. Because of her leading role in the passage of this act, Mikulski proudly stood next to the president in the press briefing, and was gifted the pen that President Obama used to sign the physical bill.75 Mikulski has not stopped in trying to ensure equal pay for women. In 2014, she passionately introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act to the floor of the Senate:
“You know, when we [women] raise an issue, we’re too emotional. Well, I am emotional. I am so emotional about this. It brings tears to my eyes to know how women every single day are working so hard and are getting paid less. I get angry, I get outraged, I get volcanic.”76
Though her impassioned words resonated with many who have been frustrated by the wage gap, the Paycheck Fairness Act failed to generate a motion to proceed.
Mikulski has also worked hard on issues of women’s health. She has long been a proponent of health care reform and advancing preventative care for women. Her efforts included fighting the NIH in the late 1980s and early 1990s to have women included in clinical trials and medical research. Kim Gandy, a former president of the National Organization for Women, states that, because of this intervention, “Women all over the country have Barbara Mikulski to thank for safer medicines.”77 In 2009, the Senator successfully amended the Affordable Care Act to ensure free mammograms and other preventative services for women.78 She was also awarded the Susan Komen Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, commemorating her commitment to women’s health care. She was saluted at the ceremony for having put women’s health on the national agenda.79
Many have praised Mikulski for her achievements, especially the many firsts she has laid claim to as a woman in the Senate; however, she said, “While I was the first, I didn’t want to be the only.”80 Reflected in this sentiment is Mikulski’s devotion to all of the women she has personally mentored in Congress and to the many others she has affected through her legislation and activism.
In the middle of her fifth term, Senator Mikulski became the longest-serving woman in Congress in 2012. As Maryland's senior senator, she also became the longest-serving member of Congress in state history. In March 2015, Mikulski announced that she would be retiring from the Senate once her term ends in 2016. In her statement, she told people that there was nothing gloomy about the announcement, and that she simply wanted to shift her trajectory: “Do I spend my time raising money? Or do I spend my time raising hell?”81 Remarking on Mikulski’s illustrious and inspiring career, President Obama marveled,
“Senator Mikulski is more than just a legendary senator for the people of Maryland, she's an institution in the United States Senate. Barbara's service to the people of Maryland spans decades, but her legacy will span generations. Barbara is the longest serving woman in Congress, and her leadership serves as an inspiration to millions of women and girls across the globe to stand up and lead.”82
In her retirement announcement, Mikulski was proud of her achievements in Congress and excited for what the future would hold. She emphasized that she wanted to devote the rest of her time to serving Maryland: “I want to give 120% of my time to my constituents, because it’s never been about me. It’s always been about them.”83
Senator Barbara Mikulski’s incredible career as an activist, a feminist, and a Congresswoman has greatly impacted the world for the better. She has helped save downtown Baltimore from a highway, opened up new possibilities for women of the United States, and greatly helped the United States continue to grow better. In her first couple of years in the Senate, Mikulski remarked that, “I don’t think that the purpose of politics is politics. It is the purpose of achieving a higher public good.”84 Mikulski’s career in politics has been a testament to this simple statement. For her service to the nation and her home state, Senator Mikulski is proudly honored in the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame.
Endnotes:
Ed O’Keefe, “Barbara Mikulski honored as longest-serving woman in Congress,” The Washington Post, 21 March 2012, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/barbara-mikulski-honored-as-longest-serving-woman-in-congress/2012/03/21/gIQA6d5JSS_blog.html. Return to text.
John Fritze, “Mikulski at ease with decision, record in Senate,” The Sun, 4 March 2015, http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-mikulski-sitdown-20150303-story.html#page=1. Return to text.
“Christine Eleanor Mikulski, 81, mother of U.S. senator Christine Eleanor: [FINAL EDITION],” The Sun, 1 April 1996, ProQuest. Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
Carleton Jones, “Barbara, Trumpet of Highlandtown,” The Sun (1837-1989), 17 April 1977, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
Jerelyn Eddings, “Mikulski: Stepping Up To The Senate,” The Sun (1837-1989), 22 February 1987, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, “Mikulski announces Senate retirement,” YouTube video, 6:59, posted by “ABC7 WJLA,” 2 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odyjwxlHipA. Return to text.
Annie Groer, “Barbara Mikulski, the record-breaking not-so-gentle-lady,” The Washington Post, 23 March 2012, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/barbara-mikulski-the-record-breaking-not-so-gentle-lady/2012/03/22/gIQASJ16VS_blog.html. Return to text.
Jones, “Barbara, Trumpet of Highlandtown.” Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, interview by Bruce Collins, “Life and Career of Barbara Mikulski,” C-SPAN interview, 12 December 1989, http://www.c-span.org/video/?10419-1/life-career-barbara-mikulski. Return to text.
“Christine Eleanor Mikulski, 81, mother of U.S. senator Christine Eleanor: [FINAL EDITION].” Return to text.
Jones, “Barbara, Trumpet of Highlandtown.” Return to text.
Eddings, “Mikulski: Stepping Up To The Senate.” Return to text.
Jones, “Barbara, Trumpet of Highlandtown.” Return to text.
“MIKULSKI, Barbara Ann,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000702. Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, interview by Bruce Collins, “Life and Career of Barbara Mikulski.” Return to text.
“2 Speak Out On Welfare,” The Sun (1837-1989), 21 January 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Janelee Keidel, “An expressway bridges a gulf between people,” The Sun (1837-1989), 17 August 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Janelee Keidel, “Thousands Throng To Fells Point Fun Fest,” The Sun (1837-1989), 6 October 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Eddings, “Mikulski: Stepping Up To The Senate.” Return to text.
Stewart Dill McBride, “‘The Road’ That Turned Anger Into Unity,” The Sun (1837-1989), 13 November 1977, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, “Who Speaks for Ethnic America?,” New York Times (1923-Current file), 29 September 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Keidel, “An expressway bridges a gulf between people.” Return to text.
Frederic Hill, “Councilwoman meets press: Pure Mikulski for breakfast,” The Sun (1837-1989), 27 July 1973, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Frederic Hill, “The First district: white, ethnic and middle-class,” The Sun (1837-1989), 5 September 1971, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Mikulski, interview by Bruce Collins, “Life and Career of Barbara Mikulski.” Return to text.
Kay Mills, “‘I’m Unique,” Barbara Mikulski,” The Sun (1837-1989), 23 January 1972, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Mikulski, interview by Bruce Collins, “Life and Career of Barbara Mikulski.” Return to text.
Frederic Hill, “Canton Land Council Proposed,” The Sun (1837-1989), 24 August 1971, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Mills, “' I’m Unique,' Barbara Mikulski.” Return to text.
Eddings, “Mikulski: Stepping Up To The Senate.” Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
Ghita Levine, “New lobby for the elderly,” The Sun (1837-1989), 22 October 1972, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Gordon Chaplin, “City Council hearing: Elderly cheer ‘their’ bill,” The Sun (1837-1989), 22 October 1972, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
G. Jefferson Price, “Democrats name Miss Likulski [sic],” The Sun (1837-1989), 19 January 1973, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
Eddings, “Mikulski: Stepping Up To The Senate.” Return to text.
Stephen Nordlinger, “Party changes rules,” The Sun (1837-1989), 14 October 1975, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
“Baltimore’s Barbara Mikulski,” The Sun (1837-1989), 11 May 1976, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
William Thomas, “Barbara Mikulski: Miss Gritty City,” The Sun (1837-1989), 28 February 1982, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Jerelyn Eddings, “Mikulski: Stepping Up To The Senate.” Return to text.
Maryland State Archives, "Barbara A. Mikulski," Maryland Manual On-Line, 25 June 2015, http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/39fed/05ussen/html/msa02094.html. Return to text.
Sandra Sugawara, “Mikulski: A Trailblazer and Irritant,” The Washington Post (1974-Current file), 29 August 1986, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Mike Causey, “The Federal Diary: 7 Lawmakers ‘Perfect’ on U.S. Employe Issues,” The Washington Post, 23 February 1984. Return to text.
“Mikulski’s unlikely road,” The Daily Record, 2 March 2015, http://thedailyrecord.com/2015/03/02/barbara-mikulski-retiring/. Return to text.
Megan Rosenfeld, “National Revival of the ERA, the Topic for NOW,” The Washington Post, 27 June 1979. Return to text.
Karen De Witt, “100,000 Join March for Extension Of Rights Amendment Deadline,” New York Times (1923-Current file), 10 July 1978, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Marjorie Hunter, “House Passes Bill to Aid Victims of Family Violence,” New York Times (1923-Current file), 13 December 1979, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Diane Casselberry Manuel, “Honoring heroines past and present,” The Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file), 11 March 1982, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Michael McQueen and Sandra Sugawara, “Feisty Mikulski Surprises Her Doubters Once Again,” The Washington Post (1974-Current file), 15 December 1985, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Maryland State Archives, "Barbara A. Mikulski." Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, “A Woman Nominee: Yes, But…,” New York Times (1923-Current file), 6 March 1984, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Mikulski, interview by Bruce Collins, “Life and Career of Barbara Mikulski.” Return to text.
“Barbara Mikulski’s First Senate Campaign | Flashback | NBC News,” YouTube video, 2:11, posted by “NBC News,” 4 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS00_FNCvFc. Return to text.
Clerk of the House of Representatives, “Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1986,” U.S. Government Printing Office, 29 May 1987. Return to text.
Carolyn Stegman, “Barbara Ann Mikulski,” in Women of Achievement in Maryland History (University Park: Women of Achievement, 2002). Return to text.
Eric Pianin, “Joining the Senate Club: Family, Friends Flank Mikulski at Ceremony,” The Washington Post (1974-Current file), 7 January 1987, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Return to text.
Dana Bash, “Mikulski still breaking barriers 24 years into Senate career,” CNN, 27 December 2010, http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/27/mikulski.senate/. Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, “The Hand on Your Purse Strings,” Science 264, no.5156 (8 April 1994), p. 192-194. Return to text.
“President Obama, others on Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski,” The Sun, 3 March 2015, http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bs-md-barbara-mikulski-quote-rail-20150302-story.html#page=1. Return to text.
Dana Bash, “Mikulski still breaking barriers 24 years into Senate career.” Return to text.
John Fritze, “Mikulski at ease with decision, record in Senate.” Return to text.
Deborah Moldover, “An Analysis of the Federal Medicaid Statute’s Spousal Anti-Impoverishment Provision in Light of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid Expansion and Current Federal Budgetary Constraints,” Analysis of Health Law: Advance Directive 22 (Spring 2013), p. 158-171. Return to text.
“About Barbara: Frequently Asked Questions,” Barbara A. Mikulski: United States Senator for Maryland Website, http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/about-barbara/frequently-asked-questions. Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
Fritze, “Mikulski at ease with decision, record in Senate." Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
Emily Heil, “A Show of Arms,” Roll Call, 19 July 2011, http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_9/a-show-of-arms-207433-1.html?pg=2&dczone=hill-life. Return to text.
Nia-Malika Henderson, “Barbara Mikulski made it okay for women to wear pants in the Senate,” The Washington Post, 2 March 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/02/barbara-mikulski-made-it-ok-for-women-to-wear-pants-in-the-senate/. Return to text.
Amanda Marcotte, “How Barbara Mikulski Transformed the Senate,” Slate, 2 March 2015, http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/03/02/barbara_mikulski_longtime_maryland_senator_to_retire_in_2016.html. Return to text.
Liza Mundy, “Who Will Be the Next Dean of the Senate Women?,” Politico Magazine, 4 March 2015, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/senate-women-barbara-mikulski-115761.html#.VbE6bflVhBd. Return to text.
Bash, “Mikulski still breaking barriers 24 years into Senate career.” Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, interview with Dana Bash, “CNN: Longest serving female senator, Barbara Mikulski,” YouTube video, 3:06, posted by “CNN,” 27 December 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96b-Gvvnszk. Return to text.
Barbara Mikulski, “Mikulski Calls on Senate to Pass Paycheck Fairness Act,” YouTube video, 14:57, posted by “SenatorMikulski,” 9 April 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtZVmw2jzYM. Return to text.
Cameron Barr, “Sen. Mikulski Still Wearing Her Blue Collar With Pride,” Washington Post, 21 October 2004. Return to text.
David Herszenhorn and Robert Pear, “Senate Passes Women’s Health Amendment,” New York Times, 3 December 2009, http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/senate-passes-womens-health-amendment/?_r=0. Return to text.
“Breast cancer group honors Sen. Mikulski,” The Sun, 11 June 2003, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-06-11/news/0306110166_1_breast-cancer-women-with-breast-mikulski. Return to text.
Marc Fisher, “Mikulski, a role model for generations of women in politics, to retire in 2016,” The Washington Post, 2 March 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/mikulski-a-role-model-for-generations-of-women-in-politics-to-retire-in-2016/2015/03/02/c6770396-c0ef-11e4-9ec2-b418f57a4a99_story.html. Return to text.
Ibid. Return to text.
“President Obama, others on Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.” Return to text.
Mikulski, “Mikulski announces Senate retirement.”Return to text.
Biography written by 2015 summer intern Amelia Meman.
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