Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland has received a large collection of belongings from the estate of the late Congressman Elijah E. Cummings. The donation includes a personal collection of Cummings’ belongings and work including various papers, artwork, and photographs. The collection will be showcased in the Earl S. Richardson Library’s Beulah M. Davis Research Room, alongside other university archives.
Cummings, a Baltimore native, had close ties to Morgan State University, serving on the university’s board of regents from 1999 until his death in 2019. Due to his decades-long influence in law and politics, Morgan State University issued Cummings an honorary doctorate.
“The papers of the late Congressman Elijah E. Cummings allow the Morgan State University community an opportunity to prepare, curate, and implement a correct narrative of a native Baltimorean, lawyer, legislator, and compassionate politician who balanced his responsibility with clarity,” said Ida E. Jones, associate director of Special Collections and University Archivist. “Using his booming voice and skillful diplomacy while remaining accessible to the everyday person kept him grounded in working to provide equitable access for all Baltimoreans, Marylanders, and American citizens.”
Now that the university has acquired Cummings’ collection, they plan to digitize his constituency letters with the assistance of future grant funding. This process will help university researchers better track and study the efforts of the congressman throughout his tenure in office.
