Maryland Educator, Civil Rights Activist, and Legislator Verda Freeman Welcome

Many teachers dedicate themselves to social and political causes outside of the classroom, knowing that to improve opportunities for American citizens as a whole specifically helps their students in the classroom. One such teacher was Verda Freeman Welcome, a teacher, politician, civil rights activist, and community activist from the state of Maryland.


Verda was born on March 18, 1807, in Lake Lure, North Carolina.  She was one of fifteen children of farmers John and Docia Freeman. As a young girl, Verda attended North Carolina and Delaware public schools. The young scholar always planned to pursue higher education, but following the death of her mother in 1928, she found herself with limited financial resources to pursue her goal. Undaunted, she worked as a domestic during the day and attended school in the evening until she eventually earned her high school diploma. She once recalled, "I had to make the daily sacrifices needed to keep my dreams intact."


In 1929, Verda moved to Baltimore and to continue her education at Coppin Normal School, where she earned her teaching certificate in 1932. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in History from Morgan State College in 1939, and she completed the requirements for her Master of Arts Degree from New York University in 1943. In her later years, she was awarded honorary doctorates from Howard University, Morgan University, and the University of Maryland.


During her youth, Verda learned first-hand that African Americans were often underpaid, undereducated, and underprivileged. She determined to make a positive impact on the black community as an educator, and so she taught in the Baltimore City Public Schools for eleven years.
      
In 1959, the dedicated teacher was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent the Fourth District. She was the first black woman to achieve that distinction. Verda served as a delegate until 1962, when she was elected to the Maryland State Senate, becoming America's first African American female state senator. She served in the Maryland State Senate until 1982. Between the State House and the State Senate, Verda devoted a total of twenty-five years of service in the legislature. Significant among her accomplishments there was the passage of legislation dealing with such issues as discrimination in public accommodations, equal pay for equal work, the harassment of welfare recipients, illegal employment practices, voter registration, the abolition of capital punishment, and reforms in the state's correctional facilities.
     
On the personal side, Verda married a physician, Dr. Henry C. Welcome, in 1935. The union produced one daughter, whom Verda named Mary Sue Welcome.


For her many important achievements in the area of civil rights, this chalkboard champion was inducted into Maryland's Women's Hall of Fame in 1988. Verda was 83 years old when she passed away on April 22, 1990, in Baltimore.