Kurt Schmoke

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Kurt Lidell Schmoke
Kurt Schmoke in 1997
Mayor of Baltimore
In office January 10, 1988 – 1999
Preceded by	Clarence "Du" Burns
Succeeded by	Martin. J. O'Malley
Born	December 1, 1949 (1949-12-01) (age 58) Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dr. Patricia Schmoke (Locks)
Children	Greg and Katherine[1]
Profession	Law School Dean
Religion	Christian

Kurt L. Schmoke (born December 1, 1949) is the Dean of the Howard University School of Law and a former mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. The son of Murray (a civilian chemist for the US Army) and Irene Schmoke (a social worker), he attended the public schools of Baltimore. Schmoke is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha,^[2] the nation's oldest inter-collegiate fraternity for African American men. He was Baltimore's second black mayor but the first to be elected.

[edit] High school

[edit] Athletics

Kurt Schmoke at his high school's "Victory Hop" with prom queen Antoinette Parker and football captain Curt Anderson (1966)

Schmoke attended the Baltimore City College, the third oldest high school in the United States and the largest high school in Maryland at the time of his graduation in 1967. Schmoke excelled in both football and lacrosse. His speed afoot and his passing accuracy won him the starting job as the varsity and junior varsity quarterback. As the varsity quarterback, he led the City Knights to two undefeated seasons and successive Maryland Scholastic Association A-conference championships in 1965 and 1966. In lacrosse, his speed served him well again as a starting midfielder for a team that dominated public school competition.

[edit] Civic commitment at an early age

As a student, Schmoke was a member of the Baltimore City College "A-course", a college preparatory curriculum that required him to take Latin and other advanced studies not offered to the average Baltimore high school student. Schmoke was elected president of the school's student government in his senior year but also worked in the Baltimore community with disadvantaged youth. Compulsory community service had not yet been mandated for Baltimore high school students; yet he tutored and mentored young men from the inner city as a member of the Lancers boys club.^[3]

[edit] College and graduate school

Schmoke entered Yale University in the fall of 1967. He played quarterback on the freshman team that year. While at Yale, Schmoke and his classmates started a day care center on campus for the children of University's janitors and cafeteria workers who lived in New Haven. The center was named after Calvin Hill, a former Yale football star and still stands today^[4]. Schmoke has been acknowledged as the undergraduate student leader who helped quell the possibility of riot on the Yale campus in the wake of the New Haven Black Panther trials in the spring of 1970. "The students on this campus are confused, they're frightened," he said to university president Kingman Brewster, who with the faculty agreed to speak with one student leader. Schmoke's peers picked him. "You are older than we are, and are more experienced. We want guidance from you, moral leadership. On behalf of my fellow students, I beg you to give it to us."^[5]

After graduating from Yale with a degree in history (1971)^[6], where he was a member of Wolf's Head Society, Schmoke studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1976.

[edit] Early career

He then joined the Baltimore law firm of Piper and Marbury and was part of the White House Domestic Policy Staff during the Carter Administration, before returning to Baltimore as Assistant United States Attorney in 1978.

[edit] Elective office

In 1982 Schmoke won his first elected office, becoming Baltimore City State's Attorney, the city's chief prosecutor. On November 3, 1987, he was elected mayor. As mayor, he became known for his opposition to the "War on Drugs" and his stance in favor of drug decriminalization. Schmoke initiated programs in housing, education, public health and economic development. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush awarded him the national Literacy Award for his efforts to promote adult literacy, and in 1994 President Bill Clinton cited Baltimore's programs to improve public housing and enhance community economic development and named Baltimore one of six cities to receive Empowerment Zone designation.

[edit] Life after politics

After leaving office in December 1999, Schmoke practiced law at the firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Picketing in Baltimore.^[7]
In 2003, Schmoke was appointed the dean of the Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C. In 2004, Schmoke was appointed an honorary fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He is also on the board of Global Rights, and a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. In 2008, Schmoke delivered the keynote lecture, “A New Hundred Years War? The Compelling Need to Reform National Drug Control Policy” for the Edward Bouchet Conference on Diversity in Graduate Education at Yale University.

He also appeared in two 2004 episodes of the acclaimed HBO series The Wire. The episodes, entitled "Middle Ground" and "Mission Accomplished", featured Schmoke in a bit part as a health commissioner.^{[8][9][10][11]} He acts as an advisor to the fictional mayor after a rogue police major has legalized drugs in a portion of the city.^[12] This is a reference to his own feelings on the drug war.

[edit] References

• Kurt Schmoke: Baltimore's First Black Mayor
• Advisory Board of Just Democracy
• New Honorary Fellows at Balliol

[edit] Notes