In recognition of her years of dedication to the Port of Baltimore, Gov. Robert Ehrlich announced Thursday that the port will be renamed after Helen Delich Bentley, a former congresswoman and chairman of the United States Federal Maritime Commission.
The announcement came at a formal event marking the 300th anniversary of the Port of Baltimore. The port?s new name will be the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. New signs and logos reflecting the name change will be unveiled in 2007.
“For more than five decades, the name of Helen Delich Bentley has been synonymous with the Port of Baltimore,” Ehrlich said in a statement. “There has been no one who has championed the vital role the port plays in both the global economy and our everyday lives more than Helen. Although she has enjoyed a spectacularly diverse career, from newspaper reporter to congresswoman, she has always been known as the ?mother of the port.? ”
Bentley got her start as a maritime reporter and editor for The Baltimore Sun, where she is credited with creating one of the most respected maritime sections in the nation during her 24-year tenure. Her coverage of the supply problem for America?s war effort in Vietnam led to the institution of containers as the preferred cargo transport method.
In 1950, while still writing and editing for The Sun, Bentley made the move into television, acting as reporter, director, editor and producer for her series “The Port That Built a City,” and later “The Port That Built a City ? and State.”
From 1969 to 1975, Bentley served as chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, which made her, at the time, the fourth-highest-ranking woman in the history of the federal government.
In 1985, Bentley was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Maryland?s 2nd Congressional District, where she served until 1995.
After her stint in Congress, Bentley founded Helen Bentley & Associates, where she is president and chief executive, specializing in government relations and business development. She also is a consultant to the Maryland Port Administration.
