Evelyn O. A. Darden
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Evelyn O. A. Darden | |
|---|---|
| Born | Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. |
| Education | Morgan State University University of Maryland, Baltimore |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Maryland Women's Hall of Fame (2020) |
Evelyn O. A. Darden is an American civil rights lawyer and former prosecutor who served as an assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland. She was one of the first African American women to hold that position and later established Addison-Darden, the first Black mother-son law firm in Maryland. Darden received the 2003 Maryland Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for her role in a class-action juvenile abuse lawsuit against the state and was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 2020.
Darden is a native of Annapolis, Maryland, and grew up in the small African American community of Browns Woods.[1][2] She was homeschooled by her mother at the ages of four and five.[2] Her mother, who later served as a pastor at All Fellows United Methodist Church, had been unable to attend high school herself because no transportation was provided for Black students in Anne Arundel County at the time.[2] Darden's grandmother, Beulah, served as an early inspiration for her interest in advocacy.[2]
Darden attended Wiley H. Bates High School, where she was a majorette.[2] Darden taught science for five years at Lemmel Junior High School.[2] She is a graduate of Morgan State University and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.[1] During law school, Darden considered quitting but was persuaded to remain by professor Chandler, one of only two African American professors at the school.[2] She also completed the Harvard Law School Institute for Lawyers, focusing on class action torts and Constitutional law.[1] Darden became the eleventh African American woman admitted to the Maryland Bar.[1]