Year Honored: 2003
Birth: 1944
Born in: Louisiana
Biography
Margaret Rose Henry attended Texas Southern University and received her masters at Springfield College. Senator Henry served as the director of the Women’s Center at Delaware Technical and Community College before running for a seat in the Delaware State Senate.
In 1994, Senator Henry became the first African American Woman to be elected to the State Senate. She served three terms, until 2019, during which time she was elected Majority Whip (2009-2016) and Majority Leader (2017-2019). She served on the Public Safety Committee, the Education Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Health and Social Services Committee. Some of the major bills sponsored by Senator Henry include the Neighborhood Assistance Act, which provides financial incentives to the business community to open in low-income neighborhoods, simultaneously improving the quality of life for those in economically distressed communities; harsher penalties for drug dealers; the creation of the first Statewide Alternative School for Troubled Youth in the nation; and the Kinship Care Program, which places children with relatives when they require out of home placement. Senator Henry, a single mother of two, has also been a foster mother for more than 20 years.
Outside of her role in the Senate, Senator Henry has served as State Director for Women in Government; been on the Board of the Medical Center of Delaware; served on the Governor’s Commission on Family; was chair of the City of Wilmington Civil Rights Commission; board member of Interfaith Housing Delaware; Executive Director of Girls Incorporated; involved with the United Way of Delaware; and been Executive Director of Delaware Guidance Services.
For her service, Senator Henry has received the Gerald E. Kandler Memorial Award from the Delaware ACLU for exemplary public service; the Women of the Century Award from the Delaware YWCA; Legislature of the Year from the Delaware Bar Association (2002); and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce (2018). Upon receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Senator Henry said, “it is very special to be recognized for the Lifetime Achievement Award. You work your whole life and hope that you have made a difference, and tonight is recognition of the difference I have been able to make here in Delaware.”
In 2020, the Senator Margaret Rose Henry Bridge was opened in Wilmington. “Few public servants have had such a profound effect on the lives of the people of Delaware – and her Wilmington Constituents in particular – as Margaret Rose Henry… As Legislature, Henry was adept at building bridges, so it is only fitting that the city’s newest bridge now bears her name,” said Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki at the dedication ceremony.
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Sources and Additional Readings
Delaware Senate majority leader Margaret Rose Henry ... (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://www.wdel.com/features/delaware-senate-majority-leader-margaret-rose-henry-receives-lifetime-achievement/article_b0008c36-266d-11e8-83cd-1b7cf521baeb.html
Delaware Tech Honors sen. Margaret Rose Henry. Cape Gazette. (1970, January 1). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://www.capegazette.com/article/delaware-tech-honors-sen-margaret-rose-henry/217370
Eichmann, M. (2017, September 29). Delaware State sen. Margaret Rose Henry announces retirement. WHYY. Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://whyy.org/articles/delaware-state-sen-margaret-rose-henry-announces-retirement/
Legislature, D. (n.d.). Delaware General Assembly. Senator Margaret Rose Henry (D) - Delaware General Assembly. Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://legis.delaware.gov/AssemblyMember/149/Henry
Margaret Rose Henry Speeches. Manuscript and Archival Collection Finding Aid . (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/view?docId=ead%2Fmss0336.xml%3Bquery
New Christina river bridge at Wilmington Riverfront dedicated to former State senator Margaret Rose Henry. State of Delaware News. (2020, July 15). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://news.delaware.gov/2020/07/15/new-christina-river-bridge-at-wilmington-riverfront-dedicated-to-former-state-senator-margaret-rose-henry/
The voter's Self Defense System. Vote Smart. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/5733/margaret-henry
- Collections: 2003, Black History Month, Delaware Women Firsts