* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
The Victorine Q. Adams Memorial Garden at City Hall
FOR the purpose of calling upon the Mayor to join with the City Council in dedicating the flower beds that grace the entrance to City Hall in celebration of the life of Victorine Q. Adams, the 1st African American woman to serve on the Baltimore City Council, founder of the Baltimore Fuel Fund, and tireless worker for Civil Rights and Women's Rights, who, for more than 6 decades, enriched the lives of the citizens of the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland.
Body
Recitals
Victorine Q. Adams, truly one of Baltimore's best and brightest, was born in this City on April 28, 1912, and passed away in this City on January 6, 2006. She graduated from Douglass High School, Coppin State College, and Morgan State College before embarking on a 14- year teaching career in Baltimore City Public Schools and an esteemed career in Baltimore politics and the Civil Rights movement.
Mrs. Adams accomplishments are many. In the early 1940's, she formed the Colored Women's Democratic Campaign Committee to elect candidates who were sensitive to minority issues and initiated a Junior Registration Corps that inspired children to become active in the democratic process. In 1966, she also was elected to serve her constituency, first as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and then as a member of the Baltimore City Council where she served for 16 years.
While serving on the Council, in 1979, Mrs. Adams founded what became known as the Victorine Q. Adams Fuel Fund, the first Fuel Fund in the nation solely dedicated to helping low income families with the energy needs. In 1981, she established the Fuel Fund of Maryland as an out-growth of the Baltimore Fuel Fund. With her husband of 70 years, William L. Adams, Victorine established a lifelong legacy of giving to the business, education, civic, and spiritual communities. In 1984, they established The William L. and Victorine Q. Adams Foundation, one of the goals of which is to promote the undergraduate study of business for African American students from Baltimore City.
As stated in the Remembering Registry of the March Funeral Homes where Going Home services for Victorine were held: "Her commitment to the growth of women, her concern for the family unit, and her love for the rights of the underprivileged was the springboard to her untiring involvement for a better quality of life for African Americans". The organizations that were fortunate enough to count Mrs. Adams among their membership include Phi Delta Kappa, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Iota Phi Lamdba Sororities; Negro Business and Professional Leaders; National Council of Negro Women; Baltimore Urban League; NAACP; Charmette Inc.; School Marms; Martinques, Inc.; League of Women Voters; N.O.W. - Women Together; Council for Cultural Progress; Hanlon Park Improvement Association; Coppin State and Morgan State Alumni Associations; Health and Welfare Council Homeless Task Force; City Council Task Force on Unemployment; and the Kidney Foundation.
Victorine Q. Adams lived a purposeful life dedicated to advocating for the most vulnerable and less fortunate among us - the young, the poor, the infirm, and the elderly. She did so with quiet dignity and ladylike persuasion - accompanied by steely determination. Like a beautiful flower, her petite genteel appearance belied her indomitable spirit.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body calls upon the Administration to join in dedicating the flower beds that grace the entrance to City Hall in celebration of the life of Victorine Q. Adams, the 1st African American woman to serve on the Baltimore City Council, founder of the Baltimore Fuel Fund, and tireless worker for Civil Rights and Women's Rights, who, for more than 6 decades, enriched the lives of the citizens of the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the membership of all the organizations to which Victorine Q. Adams belonged that are still in active status be cordially invited to attend the dedication of the Victorine Q. Adams Memorial Garden at City Hall.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Honorable Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2006 Maryland General Assembly, the President of the Baltimore NAACP, the President of the League of Women Voters, the family of William L. and Victorine Q. Adams, Mr. Theo and Mrs. Blanche Rogers, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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