Howard University
Which school did Elijah Cummings go to in 1969?
Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene Cummings ( January 18 , 1951October 17 , 2019 ) was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1996 until his death in 2019 , when he was succeeded by his predecessor Kweisi Mfume . The district he represented included over half of the city of Baltimore , including most of the majority-black precincts of Baltimore County , and most of Howard County , Maryland . A member of the Democratic Party , Cummings previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1983 to 1996 . Elijah Cummings served as the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform from January 2019 until his death in October of the same year . He was succeeded by fellow Democrat Carolyn Maloney to chair the committee . Early life , education , and career . Cummings was born on January 18 , 1951 , in Baltimore , son of Ruth Elma ( ) and Robert Cummings . His parents were sharecroppers . He was the third child of seven . When he was 11 years old , Cummings and some friends worked to integrate a segregated swimming pool in South Baltimore . Cummings graduated with honors from the Baltimore City College high school in 1969 . He then attended Howard University in Washington , D.C. , where he served in the student government as sophomore class president , student government treasurer , and later student government president . He became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and graduated in 1973 with a Bachelors degree in Political Science . Cummings graduated from law school at the University of Maryland School of Law , receiving his Juris Doctor in 1976 , and was admitted to the bar in Maryland later that year . He practiced law for 19 years before first being elected to the United States House of Representatives in the 1996 election . For 14 years , Cummings served in the Maryland House of Delegates . His predecessor , Lena King Lee , raised funds and campaigned for him ; years later , Cummings credited her with launching his political career . In the Maryland General Assembly , he served as Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and was the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tempore , the second highest position in the House of Delegates . Cummings also served on several boards and commissions , both in and out of Baltimore . Those include SEED Schools of Maryland Board of Directors and the University of Maryland Law School Board of Advisors . He served on numerous Maryland boards and commissions including the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy and the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel . He was an honorary member of the Baltimore Zoo Board of Trustees . In addition to his speaking engagements , he wrote a biweekly column for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper . Congressman Elijah Cummings was a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and a Prince Hall Mason . U.S . House of Representatives . Committee assignments . - Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure - Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation - Subcommittee on Railroads , Pipelines and Hazardous Materials - Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Chair ) - Subcommittee on Domestic Policy . - Subcommittee on Federal Workforce , Post Office , and District of Columbia . - Select Committee on Benghazi ( Ranking Minority Member 114th Congress ) In December 2010 , Edolphus Towns announced that he would not seek the position of ranking minority member of the Oversight Committee in the next Congress , even though his seniority and service as chair would typically result in his filling this post . Reportedly , Towns withdrew because of a lack of support from Nancy Pelosi who feared that he would not be a sufficiently aggressive leader of Democrats in an anticipated struggle with incoming committee chair Republican Darrell Issa . Reportedly , the White House also wanted Towns to be replaced . Cummings defeated Carolyn Maloney in a vote of the House Democratic Caucus . In his role as chair of the Oversight Committee , Cummings presided over the first public testimony by President Trumps former lawyer , Michael Cohen , and was a leading figure in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump . Carolyn Maloney was named acting chair by Speaker Nancy Pelosi , and won the subsequent election in the Democratic caucus to serve as permanent chair . Caucus memberships . - Task Force on Health Care Reform - Co-founder and Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy - Congressional Arts Caucus - Afterschool Caucuses Cummings was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus . He served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 108th United States Congress . Cummings received praise following the congressional panel hearings on steroids in 2008 . While investigating the use of steroids in sports , the panel called numerous baseball players to testify , including former single season home run record holder Mark McGwire . After McGwire answered many questions in a vague fashion , Cummings demanded to know if he was taking the Fifth , referring to the Fifth Amendment . McGwire responded by saying , I am here to talk about the future , not about the past . The exchange came to epitomize the entire inquiry . Legislation . Cummings introduced the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014 , a bipartisan bill signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in December 2014 . The bill , which Cummings co-sponsored with Representative Darrell Issa , ( R-California ) , is a set of amendments to the Federal Records Act and Presidential Records Act . Among other provisions , the bill modernizes the definition of a federal record to expressly include electronic documents . He supported the Smart Savings Act , a bill that would make the default investment in the Thrift Savings Plan ( TSP ) an age-appropriate target date asset allocation investment fund ( L Fund ) instead of the Government Securities Investment Fund ( G Fund ) . Cummings called the bill a commonsense change and argued that the bill will enable workers to take full advantage of a diversified fund designed to yield higher returns . He introduced the All Circuit Review Extension Act , a bill that would extend for three years the authority for federal employees who appeal a judgment of the Merit Systems Protection Board ( MSPB ) to file their appeal at any U.S . circuit court of appeals , instead of only the U.S . Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit . Cummings said that this program is important to extend because it allows whistleblowers to file appeals where they live rather than being limited to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals . He also said that the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has an abysmal track record in whistleblower cases . In remarks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention , Cummings declared : Our party does not just believe , but understands , that Black Lives Matter . But we also recognize that our community and our law enforcement work best when they work together . Tenure . Rep . Cummings was shown to be very passionate and dedicated in his beliefs , and could often be seen becoming emotional in public as a result . Cummings was seemingly very agreeable as well . According to many , Cummings would often befriend members of the Republican Party , and was highly respected by both sides of the aisle . Political campaigns . The five-term Congressman for Marylands 7th congressional district , Kweisi Mfume , resigned in February 1996 to take the presidency of the NAACP . Cummings won a crowded twenty-seven-way Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic , black-majority district—with 37.5% of the vote . In the special election , he defeated Republican Kenneth Kondner with over 80 percent of the vote . He defeated Kondner again in November by a similar margin to win the seat in his own right . He was reelected 11 more times in the contests which followed , never dropping below 69 percent of the vote . He ran unopposed in 2006 . Personal life . Cummings lived in the Madison Park community in Baltimore and was an active member of the New Psalmist Baptist Church . He married Joyce Matthews , with whom he had a daughter , Jennifer J . Cummings . He had a son and a daughter , Adia Cummings , from other relationships . He married Maya Rockeymoore Cummings in 2009 , who was elected chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party in December 2018 . In June 2011 , his nephew Christopher Cummings , son of his brother James , was murdered at his off-campus house near Old Dominion University in Norfolk , Virginia , where he was a student . Cummings underwent surgery to repair his aortic valve in May 2017 and was absent from Capitol Hill for two months . In July 2017 , he developed a surgery-related infection but returned to work . Cummings was later hospitalized for a knee infection . Cummings was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called thymic carcinoma in 1994 while serving as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates . It was revealed in November 2019 that Cummings had lived with the cancer for 25 years , though it was not stated as the cause of death . Death . Elijah Cummings died on October 17 , 2019 , at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 68 from complications concerning longstanding health challenges , his spokeswoman stated . Before his funeral service on October 25 at Baltimores New Psalmist Baptist Church , where he was a member for 40 years , Cummings lay in state at the U.S . Capitol Buildings Statuary Hall on October 24 . Cummings is the first African American lawmaker to achieve the honor of lying in state at the nations Capitol . Prior to his death , the most recent people to lie in state were former President George H . W . Bush in December 2018 and Sen . John McCain , R-Ariz . Following a state funeral which was attended by family and members of Congress , thousands of public mourners were seen entering the U.S . Capitol to see his casket and received greetings from his widow , Maya Rockeymoore-Cummings . His casket departed from the U.S . Capitol at around 8:35 pm . On October 25 , 2019 , the official funeral for Cummings was held at the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore . Many political figures , including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton , former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , former Vice President Joe Biden , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , John Lewis , Amy Klobuchar , Elizabeth Warren , Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , and Kweisi Mfume attended the funeral service . Political positions . Healthcare . Representative Cummings was in favor of single-payer healthcare . While he supported The Affordable Care Act , he believed the legislation should have added a public option . Marijuana . Cummings believed that marijuana should be legalized and taxed at the same rate as alcohol . Honors and awards . Cummings was awarded many honors and awards in recognition of his political career . These include : Honorary degrees . - Cummings received 13 honorary doctoral degrees from universities across the United States , most recently an honorary doctorate of public service from the University of Maryland , College Park in 2017 . - Honorary degrees