Dr. Georgia K. Benjamin (born 1896) was an educational researcher, community advocate, and promoter of democracy throughout the world. Just prior to World War II, she established a home near College Park with her husband, then dean of the college of education at the University of Maryland. During the years she spent in Maryland (1939-1951), Georgia was active in local civic groups, but she also traveled to foreign countries and promoted international human rights. The small collection consists of unpublished writings, lectures, a transcript of a lecture, pamphlets, reports, and one autograph letter.
The Georgia K. Benjamin Papers covers the period 1941 until about 1953, including material created or collected from her time in Maryland (1939-1951) and Tennessee (1952-1958). The small collection consists of drafts of speeches and papers, printed pamphlets, notes on scrap paper, and one letter (dated January 28, 1948) addressed to Georgia. Two paper ballots printed for the Maryland senatorial race of 1952 featuring Democratic candidate George P. Mahoney have been re-used for notes about the Bricker amendment (Senate Joint Resolution 130). A transcription of a speech by Marie Watson in November 1945 describes the outreach of the Maryland League for Planned Parenthood to African-American women of the Eastern Shore. A draft book review of political scientist Louise M. Young’s Understanding Politics (1950) has an annotation indicating that the review was tape-recorded on April 16, 1952, to be later broadcast on WSIX radio in Nashville. Also included is a recommendation that Dr. Harry J. Patterson, once President of the University of Maryland, be honored with an Evening Star award.
