Maria Briscoe Croker

Maria Briscoe Croker (April 24, 1875 – May 6, 1962) was an American poet and Maryland's first Poet laureate. Croker was born at Charlotte Hall, Maryland in St. Mary's County. She attended St. Mary's Seminary (now St. Mary's College of Maryland), then Maryland State Normal School (now Towson University). Maryland Governor J. Millard Tawes appointed Croker Poet laureate in 1959. In 1895 she married Edward Joseph Croker at Charlotte Hall Academy where her father Edward Briscoe taught literature. One of Mrs. Croker's ancestors, John Briscoe, came to Maryland with the settlers on the Ark and the Dove. She has published three volumes of poetry and her poems are in roughly 50 anthologies.