Verda Freeman Welcome (1907-1990)
MSA SC 3520-12344
Biography:
Born in Lake Lure, North Carolina. Daughter of John Nuborn and Ellan Thodocia Freeman. Attended North Carolina and Delaware public schools; Coppin Normal School; Morgan State College, B.S., 1939; New York University, M.S., 1943; Columbia University. Married to Henry C. Welcome, 1935; one daughter, Mary Sue Welcome. Died April 22, 1990, in Baltimore, Maryland. Buried at Druid Ridge Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.
General Assembly:
First African American woman to serve in the Maryland House of Delegates
and the first to become a state senator in the United States. Member of
the House of Delegates, Baltimore City, 1959-63. Maryland State Senate,
Baltimore City, 1963-82. Vice-chairman, Executive Nominations Committee.
Member, Senate Finance Committee.
Private Career and Other Public Service:
Former Baltimore City public school teacher. State Department Foreign
Service Selection Boards. Member, Americans for Democratic Action; Board
of Governors, 4th District Democratic Organization of Baltimore City, Inc.;
Valiant Women's Democratic Club; Baltimore Urban League. Board member.
Citizen's Planning and Housing Association; League of Women Voters; Maryland
State Division, American Association of University Women. Life member,
NAACP. Member, National Order of Women Legislators; Advisory Board, Provident
Hospital. Founder and member, Mondawmin Improvement Association. Life member.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Recipient of many distinguished service awards
and citations and honorary degrees. Inducted in the Maryland Women's Hall
of Fame, 1988.
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