Following the election of Delegate Adrienne Jones as Speaker of the House of Delegates of Maryland, Preservation Maryland Executive Director Nicholas Redding issued the following statement:

Yesterday, the Maryland House of Delegates made history through its election of Adrienne Jones who will become the legislative body’s first female and African-American Speaker of the House. In her previous role as Speaker Pro Tem of the House of Delegates, Del. Jones was a faithful and committed friend to preservation and history. She worked with Preservation Maryland to introduce legislation increasing funding to the state preservation grant programs and also led the charge to establish and reauthorize the state’s African-American Preservation Grant Program.

As the chair of the capital subcommittee, she oversaw millions of dollars investments in historic resources across the state — from the statehouse itself to the impressive Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Dorchester County. For these reasons and more, in 2017 Delegate Jones was awarded Preservation Maryland’s Legislator of the Year Award. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Speaker Jones in her new capacity to continue to preserve the best of Maryland.