{{Short description|American politician (1907–1990)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Verda Welcome | image = Verda_Freeman_Welcome.jpg | state_senate = Maryland | term_start = January 2, 1963 | term_end = January 12, 1983 | predecessor = J. Alvin Jones | successor = Troy Brailey | constituency = Fourth District of Baltimore City (1962–1974)<br>40th district (1974–1982) | office1 = Member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the Fourth District of Baltimore City | term_start1 = January 7, 1959 | term_end1 = January 2, 1963 | predecessor1 = Emory Cole<br>Truly Hatchett<br>Morton C. Pollack | successor1 = Joseph Abramson<br>Harvey A. Epstein<br>Clarence Mitchell III<br>Ernest D. Young | birth_name = Verda Mae Freeman | birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|3|18}} | birth_place = Lake Lure, North Carolina, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1990|4|22|1907|3|18}} | death_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = {{marriage|Henry C. Welcome|1935}} | children = 1 | education = Morgan State College (BA)<br>New York University (MA) | occupation = }} '''Verda Mae Freeman Welcome''' (18 March 1907 – 22 April 1990) was an American teacher, civil rights leader, and Maryland state senator. Welcome was the second black woman to be elected to a state senate in the U.S. (Cora Mae Brown was the first in 1952). She spent 25 years in the Maryland legislature and worked to pass legislation which enforced stricter employment regulations and discouraged racial discrimination.
==Early life and education== She was one of fifteen children of farmers John and Docia Freeman. Following the death of her mother and faced with a limited amount of money for education, Welcome worked during the day and attended school in the evening. Because of the strain on her, she was encouraged to drop out of school, which she refused to do, and came to Baltimore in 1929 instead. Welcome continued her education in Baltimore and graduated from Coppin Normal School and Morgan State College. She later earned her Master of Arts degree from New York University and taught in the Baltimore City public Schools for eleven years. She was awarded honorary degrees from Howard University and the University of Maryland. She married Dr. Henry C. Welcome<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://afro.com/the-lady-senator/|title = The Lady Senator|date = 23 March 2017}}</ref> in 1935. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
==Politics== In 1958, Welcome was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent the Fourth District of Baltimore City, becoming the first black woman to hold the position, which she held for three years.<ref name="spokesbio">{{cite news|author=Derek Powell|date=3 November 2005|title=Verda Freeman Welcome: A Prominent Figure In Black History|work=The Spokesman (The Independent Newspaper of Morgan State University)|url=http://media.www.msuspokesman.com/media/storage/paper270/news/2005/03/11/Alumni/Verda.Freeman.Welcome.A.Prominent.Figure.In.Black.History-893138.shtml}}</ref> Elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1962, she was the second black woman in the United States to be elected to hold a state senate seat.<ref name="bsunbio">{{cite news|title=Verda Freeman Welcome|author=Paul McCardell|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/custom/unisun/bal-blackhistory-welcome,0,3529236.story}}</ref><ref name="bw">{{cite book |author=Smith, Jessie Carney |title=Notable Black American women |publisher=Gale Research |location=Detroit |year=1996 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess/page/698 698] |isbn=0-8103-9177-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess }}</ref><ref name="halloffame">{{cite web|url=http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/womenshall/html/welcome.html|title=Maryland Women's Hall of Fame - Verda Freeman Welcome|access-date=29 March 2009|publisher=Maryland State Archives|author=Maryland Commission for Women}}</ref> In April 1964, Welcome survived an assassination attempt; two men were convicted.<ref name="bsunbio" /><ref name="nytobit">{{cite news|title=Verda F. Welcome, 83, A Maryland Legislator|work=The New York Times|date=25 April 1990|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/25/obituaries/verda-f-welcome-83-a-maryland-legislator.html}}</ref> In 1967, Welcome worked towards eliminating Maryland's racial segregation laws which had been in place since slavery was legal.<ref name="bsunbio" /><ref name="spokesbio" />
Welcome was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1968, 1972, and 1976.<ref name="nytobit" /> She served in political office until 1982, when she retired.<ref name="nytobit" /> Welcome died on 22 April 1990 in Baltimore.<ref name="bsunbio" />
==Other accomplishments== Welcome was awarded a Woman of the Year award in 1962, which was presented by the Women's Auxiliary to the National Medical Association. In 1988, she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.<ref name="spokesbio" />
== Bibliography == * Maryland General Assembly, ''Verda Freeman Welcome: A Person of Principle'', 1991. * Welcome, Verda F., My Life and Times: Verda F. Welcome As Told to James M. Abraham. Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Henry House Publishers, Inc., 1991.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/012300/012344/html/msa12344.html Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series) - Verda Freeman Welcome] *[http://www.aomol.net/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000176/html/am176--388.html Archives of Maryland Online - Verda Freeman Welcome - List of accomplishments] *[http://library.thinkquest.org/3337/welcome.html Thinkquest - Verda Freeman Welcome] *[https://ghostsofbaltimore.org/2019/03/25/verda-welcome-maryland-state-senator/ Verda Welcome: 1st African-American State Senator] - Ghosts of Baltimore blog {{Maryland Women's Hall of Fame}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Welcome, Verda}} Category:1907 births Category:1990 deaths Category:People from Lake Lure, North Carolina Category:African-American state legislators in Maryland Category:Schoolteachers from Maryland Category:20th-century American women educators Category:American civil rights activists Category:Democratic Party Maryland state senators Category:Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Category:Morgan State University alumni Category:New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science alumni Category:Women state legislators in Maryland Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:20th-century American educators Category:Civil rights activists from Maryland Category:20th-century African-American women politicians Category:20th-century African-American politicians Category:20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly Category:American women human rights activists