// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Fannie Birckhead? A head above Fannie?
Fannie Birckhead | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Fannie Mae Ward February 28, 1935 |
| Died | February 9, 2022 (aged 86) |
| Education | Maryland State College; University of Maryland, College Park; Apex Beauty School of Cosmetology; Wor–Wic Community College |
| Occupations | community organizer, politician, judge |
Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 3; including Janeen L. Birckhead |
Fannie Mae Ward Birckhead (née Ward; February 28, 1935 – February 9, 2022) was a U.S. community organizer, judge, and politician. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was a plaintiff who successfully challenged the discriminatory election systems of Snow Hill, Maryland and Worcester County, Maryland. In 1987, she became the first African-American town councillor in Snow Hill. In 1998, she became the first Black woman to serve as mayor on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (interim mayor, not elected).[1] From 1998 to 2002, she served as a judge on the orphans' court of Worcester County, the first Black person to do so.
Early life and education
[edit]Birckhead was born on February 28, 1935, to Beatrice Geneva (née Drummond) and Frank James Ward Sr.[2][3] She attended public schools in Worcester County, Maryland.[4] She completed training at the Maryland State College and University of Maryland, College Park.[4] She also attended the Apex Beauty School of Cosmetology in Philadelphia.[4] She completed a certificate in geriatric nursing from Wor–Wic Community College.[4]
Career
[edit]Birckhead served as a poll watcher and later became a community organizer for voter registration.[4][5][6] In 1985, Birckhead and James Lee Purnell Jr. were among the seven plaintiffs who, with the support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the town of Snow Hill, Maryland which had disenfranchised its Black constituents.[7][6] The trial was ruled by Joseph H. Young.[5] Snow Hill established three districts, including the Western district which had a 74 percent Black majority.[7] In May 1987, Brickhead was elected to the Western district, becoming the first African American to be elected to the town council.[7][4] She also served as the council's secretary.[4] Brickhead was reelected six times until 1997.[8] In the 1990s, Birckhead was one of five plaintiffs who filed a successful lawsuit with the ACLU of Maryland against Worcester County's election system.[9] She was the only woman plaintiff.[9] In the late 1990s, she was the commissioner campaign treasurer for Edward Lee.[9]
After Craig Johnson's removal from office in 1998, councillor Birckhead briefly served as interim mayor of Snow Hill.[10][11] This made her the first Black women mayor on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.[3] Later that year, Birckhead, a Democrat, was elected to the orphans' court of Worcester County.[7][9] She was the first Black judge to serve on the court.[3] In 2002, she lost reelection by 77 votes to Republican George Coleburn.[12][13]
In the 1980s, Birckhead was the first Black person to drive the boardwalk tram in Ocean City, Maryland.[9][4] From 1992 to 2002, Birckhead chaired the board of directors of SHORE UP! Inc., a nonprofit organization.[9] She held a supervisory position at the Campbell Soup Company.[9] She worked as a substitute teacher and also sold Avon Products for over thirty years.[9]
Personal life
[edit]In the mid-1960s, Birckhead married Lewis Birckhead.[9] They had two daughters in addition to Lewis' son.[9] She was a longtime member of Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Snow Hill.[4] Birckhead's husband died in 1994.[9] She died on February 9, 2022.[9] Her daughter Janeen L. Birckhead was appointed the adjutant general of Maryland the following year.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Bester, Nehemiah (26 March 2025). "39 Inspiring Women from Maryland History You Need to Know". ACLU. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- ↑ "Obituary for Beatrice Geneva Snow". The Daily Times. 2014-03-16. pp. B2. Retrieved 2023-07-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 Bester, Nehemiah (2022-02-11). "23 Civil Rights Heroes from Maryland You Need to Know | ACLU of Maryland | ACLU of Maryland exists to empower Marylanders to exercise their rights so that the law values and uplifts their humanity". www.aclu-md.org. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Dennis, Cecelia G. (1989-03-01). "Birckhead keeps busy with public service work, family". The Daily Times. p. 42. Retrieved 2023-07-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Meyer, Eugene L. (1993-11-13). "View of county varies depending on race". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- 1 2 Chase, Kimberly A.; Purnell Jr, James L. (2017). James Lee Purnell Jr.: Memories of Struggles and Progress in a Segregated Worcester County, Maryland. Lulu.com. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-9772822-6-5.
- 1 2 3 4 Brown, C. Christopher (2016). The road to Jim Crow: the African American struggle on Maryland's Eastern Shore, 1860-1915. Internet Archive. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society. pp. 303–304. ISBN 978-0-9965944-1-7.
- ↑ Midgett, Melissa A. (1997-05-07). "Birckhead will serve sixth term". The Daily Times. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-07-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 McNaught, Shannon Marvel (2022-02-26). "Obituary for Fannie Birckhead". The Daily Times. pp. A1. Retrieved 2023-07-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Gettysburg Times. Gettysburg Times.
- ↑ Lynch, Heather (1998-02-11). "Johnson recalled in a landside". The Daily Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Gates, Deborah (2002-12-22). "NAACP: Lower Shore chapters focus on politics, housing". The Daily Times. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-07-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Gates, Deborah (2002-11-15). "Activist seeks to oust NAACP president". The Daily Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- ↑ Hine, Hunter (2023-05-04). "Snow Hill native named 31st adjutant general last month". Ocean City Today. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
- 1935 births
- 2022 deaths
- 20th-century African-American politicians
- 20th-century Maryland politicians
- 20th-century American women judges
- 20th-century American judges
- 20th-century American women politicians
- 21st-century African-American politicians
- 21st-century American women judges
- 21st-century American judges
- 21st-century American women politicians
- African-American community activists
- African-American city council members in Maryland
- African-American judges
- African-American mayors in Maryland
- African-American Methodists
- African-American women mayors
- American democracy activists
- American activists
- American social reformers
- American women activists
- Maryland Democrats
- Methodists from Maryland
- People from Snow Hill, Maryland
- African-American women activists
- University of Maryland, College Park alumni