Ulysses Currie (July 10, 1937 – December 27, 2019) was an American politician from

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 south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he represented District 25 in

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

, first in the house of delegates from 1987 to 1995, then in the senate from 1995 to 2019. Currie was the Chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee before having to resign the chairmanship because of an ethics violation.

Background

Currie, the son of a sharecropper, grew up in

Whiteville, North Carolina Whiteville is a city in Columbus County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,394 at the 2010 census. It is the largest city in Columbus County and is the county seat. History Columbus County was created in 1808. In 1810, a commu ...

. He was the first of his family to go to college and earned his undergraduate degree from

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1960 to 1963, and was stationed at Fort Dix and in Germany. After serving in the army, he moved to the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...

to attend American University. Currie worked for 25 years as an educator in

Prince George's County Public Schools Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) is a large public school district administered by the government of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education. The school system is ...

In the legislature

Currie was originally elected to the House of Delegates in 1986, representing District 25 in Prince George's County. During his time in the house, he became

Majority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

, the 3rd-ranking position in the House after the Speaker and the Majority Leader. Currie was elected to his seat in the State Senate in 1994. He was a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee.

FBI investigation

On May 29, 2008, it was reported that the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

had searched Currie's District Heights home and taken documents related to his work as a consultant to

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, also known as Shoppers Food Warehouse, is a chain of 22 supermarkets located in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas. Shoppers has fresh produce, Swift Angus beef, Smithfield natural pork, all-natural ...

. On September 1, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Currie and Shoppers Food Warehouse Corporation executives William J. White and R. Kevin Small in connection with a scheme from 2002 to 2008 in which the supermarket chain allegedly paid Senator Currie in exchange for using his official position and influence in matters benefitting White, Small, and the supermarket chain. Currie was acquitted on November 8, 2011. However, in 2012 he was censured by the state senate for ethics violations from facts discovered during the investigation, and was forced to resign from the chairmanship of the Budget and Taxation Committee.

Later years and death

On June 1, 2018, Maryland's

Head Start Program Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. The program's s ...

was renamed the Ulysses Currie Head Start Program to honor Senator Currie. Currie died early on December 27, 2019. He was 84.

References

External links

* 1935 births 2019 deaths Democratic Party Maryland state senators United States Army soldiers American University alumni North Carolina A&T State University alumni American educators People from Whiteville, North Carolina People from District Heights, Maryland Military personnel from Maryland Military personnel from North Carolina African-American state legislators in Maryland 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians {{Maryland-politician-stub