Audrey Earnshaw Melbourne, 69, judge in
district, circuit courts in Maryland
Today's Obituaries from The Sun
By Mark Ribbing
Sun Staff
Audrey Earnshaw Melbourne, one of the first women to be
appointed to district and circuit court benches in Maryland, died
Sunday of pneumonia at Howard County Hospital. She was 69.
An enthusiastic equestrian, Ms. Melbourne scored some of her most
notable legal victories while representing jockeys, including a 1968
case that forced Maryland's racing commission to license female
riders.
Ms. Melbourne encountered gender bias as she worked her way
through a legal system that had been monopolized by men, friends
said.
"She was a real trailblazer, a pioneer," said Howard E. Goldman, a
longtime law partner of Ms. Melbourne.
"There was a certain old-line type of prejudice against her. ... She
was a very strong advocate for women's rights, yet she functioned
very effectively in what was then a very male-dominated profession,"
Mr. Goldman said.
Born Audrey Claire Earnshaw in Chicago, Ms. Melbourne came to
Maryland as a young girl when her father, an army colonel, retired to
a farm in Upper Marlboro. It was there that her fascination for riding
began.
Ms. Melbourne attended St. Faith's Episcopal School in Saratoga
Springs, N.Y. She then spent her first two years of college at
Roanoke College in Virginia, before transferring to George
Washington University in Washington. In 1962, she graduated from
the University of Maryland's law school in Baltimore.
In 1966, after working on her own out of her husband's real estate
office, Ms. Melbourne established a firm with Mr. Goldman in
Laurel.
In one of the firm's first cases, she represented jockey Kathy
Kusner, who was trying to crack the barrier against female riders in
conventional flat-track racing.
After her victory in that case, Ms. Melbourne represented numerous
other jockeys, male and female.
Though she was notching victories in court, Ms. Melbourne found
persistent reminders that she was treading on a male preserve.
"She had run-ins early in her career for wearing pant suits to court,
and she always received correspondence from other attorneys in the
state addressed to Mr. Melbourne. She always thought that was a
riot," said Jane Melbourne Bailey, a daughter, of Ellicott City.
In 1977, Gov. Marvin Mandel appointed Ms. Melbourne to the
District Court bench in Prince George's County.
Upon taking the position, she moved from Laurel to Upper
Marlboro, where she lived until she retired to Columbia in 1997.
In 1978, she was named to the Prince George's County Circuit
Court.
Becoming a judge allowed Ms. Melbourne to humorously turn the
tables on male lawyers; Ms. Bailey said her mother would sometimes
sit at the secretary's desk when an unfamiliar attorney came to the
office. When the visiting lawyer asked her to summon "Judge
Melbourne," she would wait to see how long it took the attorney to
realize that the presumably male judge they sought was sitting in front
of him.
Ms. Melbourne, who was married three times, is survived by another
daughter, Andrea Melbourne Kirkpatrick of Columbia; two sons,
Thomas Alan Melbourne of Annapolis and Carter Earnshaw
Melbourne of Laurel; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. John's
Episcopal Church, 9120 Frederick Road in Ellicott City. On
Thursday, her ashes will be spread at the finish line at Laurel Park
racetrack.
Donations may be sent to Days End Farm Horse Rescue, an
organization that cares for old and abused horses, at 15856
Frederick Road, Lisbon 21765.
Earl T. Shinhoster, 49, briefly headed NAACP
Earl T. Shinhoster, former acting executive director of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, died Sunday of
injuries he suffered in an automobile accident that day in Macon
County, Ala. He was 49 and lived in Decatur, Ga.
In November, NAACP President and Chief Executive Officer
Kweisi Mfume named him director of a national voter registration
and education drive.
It was the latest high NAACP post held by Mr. Shinhoster,
whobriefly headed the civil rights organization as it tried to recover
from scandal in the mid-1990s.
Mr. Shinhoster was born in Savannah, Ga., and graduated in 1972
from Atlanta's Morehouse College, where he majored in political
science.
He attended law school at Cleveland State University and became an
assistant to the director of the NAACP's Cleveland branch.
In 1978, after three years as a Georgia gubernatorial aide, he
became director of the NAACP's southeastern operations.
In addition to his NAACP work, Mr. Shinhoster carried out
voter-education and election projects in the United States and
Ghana.
In 1993, he was a finalist in the search for a successor to the Rev.
Benjamin L. Hooks as NAACP national leader. The nod went
instead to Benjamin F. Chavis, who was fired in August 1994 for
secretly using organization funds to settle a threatened sexual
harassment suit.
Six months after Mr. Chavis' ouster, Mr. Shinhoster became the
NAACP's acting executive director and chief executive officer.
He held the position for a year until Mr. Mfume took its helm in
February 1996.
Mr. Shinhoster is survived by his wife, Ruby; and a son, Michael.
Robert James Bateman, 80, radio specialist
Robert James Bateman, a retired Martin-Marietta radio specialist
and World War II and Korean War veteran, died Thursday of
complications from a stroke at a hospice in New Port Richey, Fla.
He was 80.
Mr. Bateman, a former Overlea resident who had lived in New Port
Richey since 1975, began his career in the 1950s with the Glenn L.
Martin Co. in Middle River.
Born and raised in Overlea, he was the grandson of the Rev. Robert
J. Bateman, who died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
A 1938 graduate of City College, he enlisted in the Maryland
National Guard before World War II. After his unit was activated,
he served during the war as a radio specialist with the Army Air
Forces in the Pacific. During the Korean War, he served in Korea as
a radio specialist with the Air Force until being discharged with the
rank of captain.
His wife, Jeanette, whom he married in 1966, died in October.
His ashes will be interred at Parkwood Cemetery in Baltimore. There
will be no services.
He is survived by a cousin, Fred William Ellinghaus III of Boulder,
Colo.
Bernard I. Levinson, 79, Alex Cooper auctioneer
Bernard I. Levinson, a longtime auctioneer with Alex Cooper
Auctioneers Inc., died Thursday of complications from vascular
disease at Cherrywood Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in
Reisterstown. He was 79 and lived in Pikesville.
Mr. Levinson, who never retired, had been an auctioneer for 35
years with the venerable Baltimore auction house, now situated in
Towson.
"He was a swing man. He could sell anything from rugs, antiques and
even houses," said a son, Jon Levinson, who lives in Owings Mills
and heads the auction company's rug department.
A lifelong salesman, Mr. Levinson went to work in 1965 for Alex
Cooper Auctioneers Inc., which had been established by his
father-in-law in 1924.
"He was versatile, outgoing and friendly, and loved his work," said
his son.
Mr. Levinson was born in Norfolk, Va., where he graduated from
high school. During World War II, he served in the Army in Italy and
France until being discharged at war's end.
In 1947, he married the former Geraldine Cooper, who survives him.
He was a 50-year member of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.
Services were held yesterday.
In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Levinson is survived by another
son, Bruce Levinson of Guilford; a daughter, Ellen Sztajer of
Reisterstown; and eight grandchildren.
Elsewhere
Bert C. Moore, 65, a foreign service officer who was one of the 52
Americans held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran from 1979 to
1981, died of cancer Thursday in Homosassa, Fla.
During his foreign service career, he served in Washington and at
U.S. embassies and consulates in Canada, Rhodesia, Malawi,
France, Zaire, Iran, Spain, Nigeria, Indonesia and India.
Originally published on Jun 13 2000