ROYAL HART
Democrat, District 4B.
Born in Jefferson, OR, March 14, 1926. Attended Oregon public schools; Willamette University, B.A., 1948; University of Washington; University of Oregon.
General Assembly:
Member, House of Delegates, 1963-67. Member of Senate, 1967-70.
Private Career and Other Public Service:
Served in U.S. Navy, 1943-46. Member, Professional Photographers
of America. Delegate to National Council, Professional Photographers
of America, 1959-60. Member, Prince George's County Council, 1971.
Delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1972. Prince George's County
legislative liaison, 1975-1994. Former Chair, Board of Trustees,
Paint Branch Unitarian Church. Member, Family Services of Prince
George's County; Patuxent 4-H Center. Professional Consultant, Mental Health
Association of Prince George's County.
Personal Comments and Observations:
"During the time I was in the Senate, the BIG issues
were civil rights, education funding, and the early stages of the women's
rights movement. The Cooper-Hughes tax measure provided increased
funding for public schools. I was chief sponsor of a fair housing
bill and the only sponsor of a bill to repeal the law against interracial
marriage. Both passed and were signed into law. During my time
in the General Assembly I worked on expanding educational opportunities
for the handicapped, and creating a separate system of governance for our
community colleges. I guess that was probably the most important
work I did, because the civil rights accomplishments were soon overtaken
by federal action. Our community colleges were simply adjuncts of
K-12 and run by local boards of education. As such they were not
really part of the higher education system in Maryland, and I was the person
who sponsored, and after several sessions succeeded in pushing through
the legislation that is still in effect, freeing community colleges from
local board of education control and providing State financial support.
"Perhaps the most controversial bill was the repeal
of the ban on interracial marriage. It was probably also the source
of some of the funniest and most memorable moments. I remember a
Senator from the Eastern Shore (who shall remain unnamed) standing on the
floor, his face red with anger, and shaking his fist at me while he denounced
the bill. He concluded by wishing the evils of "mongrelization" to
afflict my children and my children's children for seven generations.
I also remember receiving a lot of hate mail, including one long, long
letter in which every paragraph ended with, "You make me sick!" Not
knowing how else to respond to that letter, I simply sent the person a
get-well card, and never heard from him again."
Compiled March 16, 2000 from the biographical files of the Maryland Manual, ©Maryland State Archives and from materials and photograph submitted by Senator Hart dated January 22, 2000.
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