Peggy Waxter, 1976 January 26
Abstract
Peggy Ewing Waxter (1904-2007) was an advocate for civil rights and female justice. She organized funds and raised awareness for these issues as well as for the improved care of children and the elderly. She participated in organizations such as the University of Maryland Center for Infant Study, the Children’s Guild of Baltimore, the Maryland Committee for Children, and the Baltimore Metropolitan Association for Mental Health. Additionally, she was President of the Junior League and Chairwoman of the Volunteers Advisory Committee. In this interview, Waxter speaks about her view on public welfare matters. She describes her relationship with Governor Theodore R. McKeldin, and recounts a trip that she and her husband took with the McKeldin family to Liberia, Africa. Waxter was married to Judge Thomas Waxter. She describes her husband’s work as the Director of the State Department of Public Welfare from 1953-1962, and his relationship with freedom fighter Lillie May Carroll Jackson. Waxter further recounts the creation of the Waxter Center, an elderly care center named after her husband.
Dates
- 1976 January 26
Creator
- Waxter, Peggy Ewing, 1904-2007 (Narrator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Extent
70 Minutes (Audio recording)
16 Pages (Transcript)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Processing Information
There are an additional 12 pages of supplementary material (biographical data, interview evaluation, tape index, newspaper clipping, and memorandum of speech by Judge Thomas Waxter) included after the transcript.
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of 87 oral history interviews and 4 other related items. Materials available for the interviews include audio recordings, transcripts, tape indexes, newspaper clippings, biographical information, and interview evaluations. Each item record indicates whether a complete transcript or an uncorrected transcript is available for an oral history.
All recordings within the collection are digitized and continue to be added to MCHC's Digital Collections portal.
Interviews were conducted from 1975-1977, with some earlier recordings made prior to the project added to the collection. Narrators range from leaders in the Maryland civil rights movement and local activists, to people opposed to the movement. Narrators include Lillie May Carroll Jackson’s children: Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Virginia Jackson Kiah, and Bowen Keiffer Jackson; Parren Mitchell, U.S. Congressman, 1971-1987; Donald G. Murray, the first African American admitted to the University of Maryland Law School; Verda Welcome, one of the first Black women to be elected to a state Senate; Thomas J. D’Alesandro III, mayor of Baltimore, 1967-1971; Clarence Mitchell, Jr., chief lobbyist to the NAACP; Vernon Naimaster, Great Titan of the Maryland Ku Klux Klan; and Dr. J.E.T. Camper, a prominent physician who also devoted his career to seeking racial justice and equality.
In addition to these oral history interviews, there are four items related to the project that are included with the collection. There is an audio recording of a radio program on which narrators David Glenn and Judge Robert Watts appeared to discuss the McKeldin-Jackson project with host Alan Christian. There is an audio recording as well as textual materials from the colloquium and exhibition held at the Maryland Historical Society to commemorate the McKeldin-Jackson project on November 16, 1976. There is also a research paper written by a Goucher College student on Theodore R. McKeldin and the civil rights movement in Maryland and a binder containing information on the development and progress of the McKeldin-Jackson project.
Creator
- Waxter, Peggy Ewing, 1904-2007 (Narrator, Person)
- Paul, Ellen, 1955- (Interviewer, Person)
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