Harry Streett Baldwin (August 21, 1894 – October 19, 1952) was a

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

who represented the second congressional district of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

from 1943 to 1947.

Early life

Harry Streett Baldwin was born on August 21, 1894, at the family farm in

Baldwin Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...

Baltimore County, Maryland Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

. His father was a farmer and a canner. He attended a one-room schoolhouse. Baldwin graduated

Towson High School Towson High School is a high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, founded in 1873. The school's current stone structure was built in 1949. Located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson and serving the surrounding communities ...

in 1912. He attended the

Maryland Agricultural College Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

, but left school after his father died from an accident at the cannery. He was a descendant of Lieutenant Colonel John Streett.

Career

Baldwin ran dairy farms for seven years before turning to

truck farming A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to so ...

. He then specialized in farming

green bean Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

s. He turned to politics after getting involved locally in the 1928 presidential campaign of

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a ...

, and the local Democratic headquarters considering him as a candidate for the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis ...

. He represented Baltimore County's 11th district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1931 to 1935. Baldwin served on Baltimore County's Board of County Commissioners from 1934 to 1942. He led a reform drive to modernize the police department, fire, sewage, garbage disposal, and purchasing operations in the county. Opposition in the board to his reform plan led him to run for president of the board in 1938. His campaign was successful and he served as president from 1938 to 1942. Baldwin was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-eighth and

79th United States Congress The 79th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1945, ...

, serving from January 3, 1943, to January 3, 1947. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1946, but was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the Maryland gubernatorial nomination against Preston Lane and Millard Tawes in the 1946 election. After his tenure in Congress, he resumed agricultural pursuits, and was again elected to the board of county commissioners in 1950 and was serving as chairman at the time of death.

Personal life

Baldwin married Mary Virginia Smith of Sunnybrook, Maryland in 1916. Together, they had four sons and one daughter: * Harry Wallace Baldwin - fighter pilot and Lieutenant, shot down during the

Tunisian campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. T ...

* John Streett Baldwin - died in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

during a test flight of a

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

* Maurice W. Baldwin * William S. Baldwin * Mrs. Robert H. Price

Death

Baldwin suffered an

intracerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on October 9, 1952, at his home in

Hydes Hydes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan Hydes (born 1947), British table tennis player *Arthur Hydes (1911–1990), British football player * Steven Hydes (born 1986), British adoptee See also *Hodes *Hydes Brewery H ...

. He died shortly after on October 19, 1952, at Union Memorial Hospital in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He is interred in Chestnut Grove Cemetery of

Jacksonville, Maryland Phoenix is an unincorporated community located in Baltimore County in the State of Maryland, United States. It is located at latitude 39°30'59" North, longitude 76°36'59" West. The United States Postal Service has assigned Phoenix the ZIP ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Harry Streett 1894 births 1952 deaths People from Baltimore County, Maryland Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates County commissioners in Maryland 20th-century American politicians