Md. Delegate Hattie Harrison Dies At Age 84
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The most senior member of the House of Delegates, Delegate Hattie Harrison, died Monday night.
Pat Warren reports she represented the eastside of Baltimore City District 45.
Since 1973, Delegate Hattie Harrison represented East Baltimore on the floor of the House of Delegates and wherever else civic responsibility took her. During a 1996 demonstration at City Hall, she demanded answers on behalf of her constituents.
"We are going lacking and things are getting worse," she told WJZ at the time.
She stood up for illegal immigrants during the in-state tuition debate.
"They should be able to get a good education, she said at the time.
In 2011, she tearfully recalled values instilled by her father.
"I dropped out and my father came one day and said, `You're going back to school.' I was living in Charlotte -- that's where I grew up -- and he said, `You're going back to school,'" she said.
And she, in turn, schooled others.
"Hattie would pull my coat and say, `You have to realize who you are and what you're doing here.' And as a result of that, I learned to mature fast, thanks to Hattie Harrison," said Delegate Curt Anderson, Baltimore District 43.
Delegate Keith Haynes, Baltimore District 44, also learned from her.
"She was known as a fighter and also at the same time a reconciler and she was able to bring factions together on issues like no one else could," Haynes said.
Delegate Melvin Stukes, Baltimore District 44, sat next to Delegate Harrison for six years.
"On a scale of one to 10, she would probably have a 45 or 50. That was her heart," he said.
In the words of House Speaker Michael Busch, "someone will ultimately take her seat but no one will take her place in the House."
Harrison was 84.
Click here for more on Delegate Hattie Harrison.
