Helen Delich Bentley Papers

Helen Delich Bentley (b. 1923 - d. 2016) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland (1985-1995); chair of the Federal Maritime Commission (1969-1975); international business consultant; journalist; television producer; and private advocate.

Bentley was born November 28, 1923 in Ruth, White Pine County, Nevada. She earned her BA. from the University of Missouri in 1944. Bentley began her career as a journalist in Baltimore, Maryland at The Baltimore Sun where she covered labor issues, maritime news, and the port of Baltimore. She produced a WMAR television show titled "The Port that Built the City and State," which ran from 1950 until 1965. Her reporting work took her abroad to Vietnam. In 1969 she was recruited to be the Chair of the Federal Maritime Commission (1969-1975) during the Nixon administration; she left in 1975 to become a business consultant. Bentley was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1985 and served until 1995. While in Congress, she earned a reputation for her criticism of U.S. Trade policy and for her bipartisan work. Bentley supported the dredging of the Chesapeake Bay to allow large cargo ships. She supported the Equal Rights Amendment. In the 1990s she supported Serbia during the Balkan wars. Bentley ran for Governor of Maryland unsuccessfully in 1994. In 1995, she returned to her career in business and started Helen Bentley and Associates where she worked as an international maritime business consultant and lobbyist. In 2002, Bentley unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

During her life, Bentley earned a number of awards and honors. She was a member of the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. In 2004, she was inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame and into the International Maritime Hall of Fame in New York. During the 300th anniversary celebration of the port of Baltimore in 2006, Gov. Ehrlich named the port in her honor. Bentley died in 2016.

[Information for this biographical note was gathered from a 2016 obituary found in The Baltimore Sun, a 2016 obituary found in the Washington Post, and from previous collection descriptions.]