Historical Figures
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Spiro T. Agnew
The 39th Vice President of the United States, serving under Richard Nixon, he resigned in disgrace and pleaded guilty to a charge of tax evasion. He was being investigated at the time for other more serious crimes, including receiving kick backs from contractors awarded large jobs while he was Governor of Maryland. Ten years after leaving office, in January 1983, Agnew paid the state of Maryland nearly $270,000 as a result of a civil suit based on bribery allegations.Spiro was born in Baltimore in 1918 and got his Law degree from University of Baltimore in 1947.
Benjamin Banneker
Born in Baltimore in 1731, he was the first African to receive a presidential appointment, he was appointed by George Washington (as part of a 3 man team) to design the District of Columbia. With only an 8th grade education he was also a successfull scientist, surveyor, almanac author and farmer.
Bishop John Carroll
The first Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop in the United States. He was the Archdiocese of Baltimore from 1784–1815. Raised on a farm in Upper marlboror Maryland with his older brother Daniel Carroll (one of only five men to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States). He attended the College of St. Omer in French Flanders with his cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who was to become
the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first U.S. Senator from Maryland. Ordained to the priesthood in 1769, John Carroll remained in Europe until 1773. Carroll was elected Bishop of Baltimore by the clergy of the new nation in April 1789 Frederick DouglassBorn in Maryland. Before becoming a famous black abolitionist, Douglass spent much of his early life working in Baltimore's shipyards.
Justice, Thurgood Marshall The first African American appointed to the Supreme Court, Baltimore born Justice Marshall was denied admission to the University of Maryland law School because he was black. Once the Ku Klux Klan applied for a permit to hold a rally in Baltimore. The nature of the permit allowed City officials to choose an appropriate site. The participents in this small gathering appearently never noticed that the city choose the area around a statue commemorating Justice Marshall!
Kweisi MfumeBaltimore native Kweisi Mfume served as the President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and as a five-term Democratic Congressman in Maryland. He graduated from Baltimore's Morgan State University in 1976.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton The first American Saint, Sister Seton established America's first free Catholic School and first Orphanage, both in her home town of Baltimore. The school with her name is still operating in downtown Baltimore.
Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange of Baltimore City was the founder of the first United States Roman Catholic convent for black women in 1828.
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