Howard "Pete" Rawlings
| Pete Rawlings | |
|---|---|
| Delegate 40th District | |
|
In office January 10, 1979 – November 14, 2003 |
|
| Preceded by | Lloyal Randolph |
| Succeeded by | Marshall Goodwin |
| Constituency | Baltimore City |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Howard Peters Rawlings March 17, 1937 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Died | November 14, 2003 (aged 66) Baltimore, Maryland |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Nina Rawlings |
| Children | 3 children |
| Residence | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Occupation | teacher, mentor |
| Religion | Christian |
Howard Peters "Pete" Rawlings (March 17, 1937 – November 14, 2003) was an American politician and the first African American to become chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee in the Maryland House of Delegates. Rawlings served the 40th legislative district, located in the central, northwest section of Baltimore, from 1979 until 2003. His daughter, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, is the former Mayor of Baltimore.
Delegate Rawlings was born in Baltimore on March 17, 1937 to Howard Toussaint and Beatrice Peters Rawlings. His father worked as a custodian in a department store and then for U.S. Postal Service. Rawlings and his five brothers and sisters grew up in public housing, he graduated from Douglass High School, one of the three schools African Americans were allowed to attend prior to the Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education. He earned a B.S. in mathematics from Morgan State College, an M.S. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and completed Ph.D. coursework at the University of Maryland. Rawlings was a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County from 1969-1972. While at UMBC, he served as the chair of the UMBC Black Caucus of Faculty & Staff and the Black Coalition of the University of Maryland Campuses.
Delegate Rawlings was a member of Maryland's House of Delegates from January 10, 1979 until his death on November 14, 2003. He was appointed chairman of the Appropriations Committee in 1992. In his years as chairman, Delegate Rawlings developed a reputation for integrity, dedication to his city, and a detailed knowledge of the state budget. He was in the forefront of reforming inner-city public schools, including requiring accountability from Baltimore school officials for lack of educational progress, waste of state funds, and allegations of fraud in spending those funds. He co-sponsored legislation that banned racial profiling in Maryland and fought against Maryland Lottery drawings expanding to Sundays. He also played an instrumental role in securing funding for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.
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