![]() ![]() Reuben Spellman, tears glistening in his eyes, told the crowd his wife "really thought it was a beautiful drive. (Jack) Fish, director of the national capital region of the National Park Service.ĭuring yesterday's ceremony, Fish and other speakers recalled Spellman's success in getting funds to repave and upgrade the parkway in 1970, shortly after she arrived in Congress. "We hope someday people will come to call the road the Spellman Parkway," said Manus J. A second dedication marker, similar to the one unveiled yesterday, is under construction at the northern end of the federal part of the roadway. Officials estimated at the time the bill passed that the cost for the two dedication markers and sign redesignations would be about $30,000 for the federal government and $2,000 for the state. Maryland renamed its portion the Gladys Noon Spellman Parkway a year ago and posted signs indicating the new name.Īt about the same time, Congress approved a bill that keeps the original Baltimore-Washington Parkway name for the federal portion of the road but officially dedicates it to Spellman. The remaining 17-mile portion belongs to the state of Maryland.Įfforts were made on both the state and federal level to redesignate the roadway in honor of Spellman. 175 at Jessup, belongs to the National Park Service. The southern end of the parkway, stretching 19 miles from the District line to the intersection of Maryland Rte. Yesterday's ceremonies complete the somewhat complex redesignation of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, the heavily traveled, 36-mile-long roadway between the District of Columbia and Baltimore that first opened for full use in 1956. Hoyer (D-Md.), who succeeded the 66-year-old Spellman in her 5th District congressional seat and worked with Seiberling to get the legislation that authorized dedication of the parkway to Spellman. ![]() She always had time to listen," said Rep. "She was an effective spokesperson for justice. Seiberling (D-Ohio), chairman of the House public lands and national parks subcommittee. She always had "warm, wise, courageous counsel" for her fellow members of Congress, said Rep. Spellman has been in a coma at an undisclosed nursing home since suffering a heart attack on Oct. There were many other words of praise for the one-time Prince George's County political matriarch and congressional defender of federal employes. Her life is an inspiration to all of us." "Gladys lived most of her adult life a few blocks from this parkway she worked so hard to preserve," said Prince George's County Executive Parris N. 450 in Cheverly and applauded the unveiling of a large wood and stone marker bearing Spellman's name. In 1972 she was awarded the highest honor that could be bestowed by county officials nationwide when she became the first woman elected president of the National Association of Counties.Amid pomp and late spring humidity, the federally owned portion of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway was formally dedicated yesterday to Gladys Noon Spellman, the former Maryland congresswoman who has been hospitalized in a coma for more than three years.Ībout 300 family members, guests, local political leaders and officials of the National Park Service, which owns 19 miles of the tree-lined parkway, gathered by the northbound lanes near the intersection of Maryland Rte. She later served as chairperson of that body, and as a member of the Prince George's County Council. ![]() In 1962, she became the first woman elected to the Board of Commissioners of Prince George's County. Before being elected to public office, Gladys Spellman was an educator in the Prince George's County public school system, president of the Prince George's County Council of PTA's, as well as chairwoman of the National Mental Health Study Center. The Baltimore-Washington Parkway, a scenic north-south highway in Maryland, is dedicated to Spellman. Her seat was declared vacant until Steny Hoyer won it in special election. On October 13, 1980, Spellman suffered an incapacitating heart attack, rendering her comatose for the final years of her life. Congresswoman who represented the 5th congressional district of Maryland from Januto January 3, 1981.
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