M. Virginia Rosenbaum (born M. Virginia Fike) (1921–2005) was Maryland's first female

county surveyor A county surveyor is a public official in the United Kingdom and the United States. United Kingdom Webb & Webb describe the increasing chaos that began to prevail within this same period in field of county surveying in England and Wales, with c ...

and a member of the Maryland Society of Surveyors. For a short time she worked as a copy writer and eventually became the manager of

WTBO WTBO is an oldies formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Cumberland, Maryland, serving Cumberland and Frostburg in Maryland and Keyser in West Virginia. WTBO is owned and operated by Forever Media. History On December 13, 1928, WTBO s ...

radio station in

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland 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 s ...

. In 1961 Rosenbaum purchased a local

Allegany County, Maryland Allegany County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,106. Its county seat is Cumberland. The name ''Allegany'' may come from a local Lenape word, ''welhik hane'' or '' ...

, newspaper, ''The Allegany Citizen'', renamed it to ''The Citizen'', and edited and published the weekly paper for 28 years.

Early life

M. Virginia Fike was born on September 3, 1921, in

Suffolk, Virginia Suffolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as such has no county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,324. It is the 9th most populous city in Virginia and the largest city in Virginia by boundary land area as ...

, to parents John and Mildred Fike. She attended Ursuline Academy, now known as The Woods Academy, in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, and then went on to attend Strayer's Business College, now known as

Strayer University Strayer University is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1892 as Strayer's Business College and later became Strayer College, before being granted university status in 1998. Strayer Univer ...

Career

Prior to her time as a county surveyor, Rosenbaum worked briefly as a

real estate broker A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

and also as a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

. During her career as a journalist, she worked first for the Henry J. Kaufman Advertising Agency in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, then from 1942 to 1945 worked at the WTBO radio station. One of her longest and most involved career endeavors began when she purchased ''The Allegany Citizen'' newspaper and, after renaming it to ''The Citizen'', entered her position as editor and publisher. Rosenbaum continued to edit and publish the paper until 1983, after which she opened her own surveying business. During her time as editor, Rosenbaum was introduced to the concept of

fluoridation Water fluoridation is the controlled adjustment of fluoride to a public water supply solely to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by adding ...

and became convinced of its dangers, dedicating most of her life to advocating for pure drinking water in Maryland. Over the course of her life, she led seven successful campaigns to purify Maryland's water supply and promoted an anti-fluoridation agenda in her paper, becoming known as a figurehead for the movement. She is quoted in a ''Baltimore Sun'' article from 2000 insisting that fluoride is "deadly poison."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenbaum, M. Virginia 1921 births 2005 deaths American surveyors People from Suffolk, Virginia American radio executives Editors of Maryland newspapers People from Frostburg, Maryland American real estate brokers American newspaper publishers (people) People from Cumberland, Maryland