Curran Family oral history collection
Abstract
This collection includes eight oral history interviews conducted circa 1982 with members of the Curran family, a Maryland political family. The narrators discuss the family's myriad political appointments and their Irish heritage, among other topics.
Dates
- 1982 January 1- December 21
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
The reproduction of materials in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright clearances or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information visit the MCHC’s Rights and Permissions page.
Biographical / Historical
The Curran family's involvement in Maryland politics began in the 1940s when J. Joseph Curran Sr. (1904-1977) ran for the House of Delegates. Though he lost that particular race, Curran Sr. caught the political bug and would go on to serve as a longtime member of the Baltimore City Council. He represented Northeast Baltimore’s Third District from 1955 to 1959, and 1963-1976.
Curran Sr. was the father of J. Joseph Curran Jr., Martin E. "Mike" Curran, Robert Curran, and Sister Margaret Curran. J. Joseph Curran Jr. served in the Maryland House of Delegates and the state Senate, was Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1983-1987, and Maryland's longest-serving Attorney General from 1987-2007. Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Robert Curran both served on the Baltimore City Council, Mike from 1977-1995 and Robert from 1995-2016. Their sister, Margaret Curran, did not go into politics, but rather devoted her life to religious service. A cousin, Gerald Curran, served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967-1998.
Members of the family’s next generation continued on the family’s political legacy. J. Joseph Curran Jr.'s daughter, Katie Curran O'Malley, was Associate Judge for the First District Court of Maryland from 2001-2021. Katie's husband, Martin J. O'Malley, was Maryland's 61st Governor from 2007-2015. The O’Malleys’ son-in-law, J.D. Merrill, ran for Maryland Senate in 2018.
Extent
11 Items (There are eight oral history interviews and three transcriptions in this collection. )
Language of Materials
English
Bibliography
DeFilippo, Frank A. "All in the Family." Maryland Matters. May 20, 2018. https://www.marylandmatters.org/2018/05/20/frank-defilippo-all-in-the-family/.
Maryland Court On-Line. "District Court of Maryland: Former Judges: Catherine Curran O'Malley." Maryland.gov. https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/32dc/former/html/msa13093.html.
Wagner, John. "Curran To Conclude Generation Of Service." The Washington Post. May 8, 2006. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/07/AR2006050701182.html.
Scope and Contents
This collection includes eight oral history interviews conducted circa 1982 by Susancarole Roy with members of the Curran family, a Maryland political family. The narrators discuss the family's myriad political appointments and their Irish heritage, among other topics.
- Title
- Guide to the Curran Family oral history collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Cathryn Kinde
- Date
- 2022-03
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750
specialcollections@mdhistory.org