Former Md. Senator Joseph Tydings dead at 90

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Sen. Joseph Davies Tydings has died at 90 years old. Tydings was a Democratic senator from Maryland from 1965 to 1971.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted that he was saddened to hear of Tydings’ death, and he has ordered flags to fly at half-staff.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, also a Democrat from Maryland, said that Tydings “cut against the grain and had the courage of his convictions to fight for civil rights, and sensible gun laws in the turbulent 1960s.”

The Baltimore Sun reported that in the 1950s, as president of the Maryland Young Democrats, Tydings confronted an Ocean City hotel owner who refused to allow black attendees to stay in the hotel.

Tydings was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1928. He was adopted as a child by Millard Tydings, who was a Maryland senator. He attended the University of Maryland for college and law school.

Montgomery County (Md.) State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, speaks as his family, left, and supporters watch while he announces his candidacy for Attorney General of Maryland Monday, May 15, 2006, in Baltimore. Former Sen. Joseph D. Tydings, front right, stands next to Baltimore City Councilman Keiffer Jackson Mitchell as they listen to Gansler's announcement. (AP Photo/ Steve Ruark)
Democratic candidate for Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, center, sits with attorney Dan Freidman, left, and former U.S. Sen. Joseph Tydings, right, at the Maryland Court of Appeals in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, Nov. 2, 2006. Gansler's candidacy is being tested after a man brought a suit claiming he had not practiced law in Maryland long enough. (AP Photo/Chris Gardner)
George McGovern Sen. George S. McGovern, whose long shot chances for the Democratic presidential nomination are growing longer as the voting time nears, tries to win support from the Maryland delegation at its caucus in Chicago, August 28, 1968. He got an endorsement from Sen. Joseph Tydings of Maryland. Mrs. McGovern sits at her husband's side. (AP Photo)
Joseph Tydings, John V. Lindsay Sen. Joseph Tydings (D-Md.), huddles with New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay, left, in the hearing room during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss gun control legislation, June 26, 1968. Tydings said he will try to add registration of firearms to a bill that would prohibit interstate mail order sales of guns and ammunition. Lindsay told the subcommittee federal licensing controls should be imposed only where state and local jurisdictions fail to act. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
The Senate passed the controversial crime control bill for D.C. over protests by opponents that parts of it trample on Constitutional rights, July 23, 1970, in Washington. From left: Sen. Roman L. Hruska (R-Neb.), Sen. Joseph D. Tydings (D-Md.) and Sen. Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.), checking the voting results. (AP Photo)
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Tydings served in the Army of Occupation, European Theater of Operations after World War II. He was admitted to the bar in 1952 and practiced law.

He was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1955 to 1961. He became the U.S. attorney for Maryland from 1961 to 1963.

Tydings ran for re-election for the Senate in 1970 and lost, which Van Hollen attributes to his progressive battles.

Tydings then served as a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland from 1974 to 1984. He was a member of the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland from 2000 to 2005.

His daughter, Mary Tydings, told The Baltimore Sun that her father was cloaked in a blanket bearing the name of his alma mater when he died.

Abigail Constantino

Abigail Constantino started her journalism career writing for a local newspaper in Fairfax County, Virginia. She is a graduate of American University and The George Washington University.

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