Bea Gaddy (1933-2001) is remembered as one of the biggest forces in securing food and shelter for Baltimore’s homeless population and created a network of community resources that continue to support tens of thousands of people to this day.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know -- but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Leading Ladies, Activists, STEMinists, Local Legends, and many more. Encyclopedia Womannica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Encyclopedia Womannica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Cinthia Pimentel, Grace Lynch, and Maddy Foley. Special thanks to Shira Atkins, Edie Allard, and Carmen Borca-Carrillo.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at jenny@wondermedianetwork.com.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s Local Legend is remembered as one of the biggest forces in securing food and shelter for Baltimore’s homeless population. She created a network of community resources that continue to support tens of thousands of people to this day. She’s been called “Mother Teresa of Baltimore” and “St. Bea.” Let’s talk about Bea Gaddy.
Bea was born Beatrice Frankie Fowler in Wake Forest, North Carolina on February 20th, 1933. Her family, like many others, found itself in dire straits during the Great Depression. Much of Bea’s childhood was marked by poverty and hunger, as well as her father’s often violent alcoholism. Her difficult home life as a child informed her humanitarian work later on.
Eventually, Bea found a way out of her house: marriage. Bea and her husband moved to New York City to find better work, but Bea didn’t have much luck. She worked as a housekeeper for little pay, and her marriage came to an early end. Soon after leaving home, she was left to find her way as a single mother.
By her mid-20s, Bea had been twice-divorced and was trying to take care of her five children. In 1964, she reconnected with an old friend who promised her a job in Baltimore. She moved there with her kids and took on several jobs. Bea’s life in this new city was also difficult— she and her children spent many nights without heat or electricity. During these hard times, though, Bea began to ask others for help, forming connections to help take care of herself and her family. This ability to create community would define many of her later organization efforts.
While working as a crossing guard, Bea formed a friendship with a neighborhood attorney who encouraged her to go to college. Bea took the advice, first finishing her high school degree through a correspondence course and later enrolling at Catonsville Community College. She took several courses on mental health and graduated from Antioch University with a bachelor’s in human services in 1977.
Bea had already been working in community organizing -- in the early 1970s, she’d joined the East Baltimore Children’s Fund, and her row house soon became a distribution center for food and clothing. In 1981, Bea founded the Patterson Park Emergency Food Center. She stocked it by collecting donations in an old cart she wheeled around. In the winter, the center also collected and distributed toys to children during the holidays.
That same year, Bea also won $250 on a 50-cent lottery ticket. She used it to plan a Thanksgiving meal that fed 49 of her neighbors. This feast became a yearly tradition that grew with each iteration-- soon, Bea moved the dinner to the sidewalk outside her home. Later, she moved it to the local middle school to fit everyone at the table. Bea’s Thanksgiving dinners were made possible by donations, local grocers, and extra hands in the kitchen from around the community.
Bea became a pillar of the Baltimore community. In addition to the food bank and shelter, she started a furniture bank and a program to refurbish abandoned row houses for families in need. She helped run summer youth programs and ran workshops on voter education. Later in life, Bea also became an ordained minister. This allowed her to perform important duties, like marriages and burials, at no cost to families.
In 1999, Bea was elected to city council. She ran on a platform of bringing the citizens’ perspective back to council, and used her life experiences in Baltimore to represent the voices of an often silenced community. Sadly, her term was cut short. Bea died of breast cancer in 2001.
Bea’s work has been carried on by her daughters as well as the many volunteers who show up every year to help out at the organizations she helped build. The food pantry is known today as the Bea Gaddy Family Center and continues to help feed, clothe, and shelter Baltimore’s community. The center feeds between 50-150 people daily. Bea’s Thanksgiving feast now feeds around 20,000 people every year, and is assisted by hundreds of volunteers who come to help Bea’s legacy live on.
During her life, Bea earned numerous awards for her humanitarian work. She has also been memorialized by charity efforts, including “Bea Gaddy Day,” which is celebrated by a city-wide food drive every year.
But she’s maybe best immortalized by the legendary names the city gave to her. A group of Baltimore third graders came up with the legend of “Balldemer Bea,” a woman who could bake a 2,000 layer cake in four seconds, and was such a good cook that people waited in mile-long lines just to smell what she was making.
All month, we’re talking about local legends. For more on why we’re doing what we’re doing, check out our newsletter Womannica Weekly.
Follow us on facebook and instagram @encyclopediawomannica.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
As always, we’ll be taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you on Monday!