Rosalie Silber Abrams | |
---|---|
Majority Leader of the Maryland Senate | |
In office 1978–1982 | |
Maryland State Senator | |
In office 1970–1984 | |
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates | |
In office 1967–1970 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Rosalie Silber June 2, 1916 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
Died | February 27, 2009 Towson, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 92)
Spouse |
William Abrams
(
m. 1954; died 1978) |
Children | 1 |
Alma mater | |
Academic background | |
Thesis | State Governmental Structure Affecting Enactment and Implementation of a Federal Program: A Case Study of Medicaid in Maryland (1969) |
Rosalie Silber Abrams (June 2, 1916 [1] – February 27, 2009 [2]) was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1967–70) and Maryland State Senate (1970-84). She was the first female and Jewish majority leader of the state Senate (1978–82). [3] Appointed by Governor Harry Hughes, Abrams headed the Maryland Office on Aging (now Department of Aging) from 1983 until retiring in 1996. [2]
Rosalie Silber was born to Dora (née Rodbell) and Isaac "Ike" Silber [2] [4] in Baltimore, Maryland on June 2, 1916. [1] Her mother was an immigrant from Poland and her father an immigrant from Austria. Her parents owned a bakery in East Baltimore called Silber's Bakery. [2] [4] She graduated from Western High School in the 1930s. [2] She attended Sinai Hospital School of Nursing and became a registered nurse. She also attended Columbia University. [1]
She later attended Johns Hopkins University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1963 and a Master of Science in political science in 1969. [2] Her master's thesis was State Governmental Structure Affecting Enactment and Implementation of a Federal Program: A Case Study of Medicaid in Maryland. [2]
She married William Abrams in 1954. [2] He died in 1978. [2] Together, they had one daughter, Elizabeth "Lissa" Abrams. [2] [1]
During World War II, Abrams worked as a nurse in the U.S. Navy. [1] [2] She returned to work at Silber's Bakery in 1947 and worked there until she married in 1954. [2] She also taught sex education classes at Patterson High School. [2]
Abrams was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1966 and served until 1970. [1] [2] Abrams represented Northwest Baltimore in the Maryland State Senate from 1970 until 1984. [1]
In 1983, she was appointed by Governor Harry Hughes as the director of the Maryland Office of Aging. She served in that role until she retired in 1996. [2]
Abrams died of heart failure at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson, Maryland on February 27, 2009. [2]