Thomas Francis McNulty (1906 – February 1, 1995) was an American radio broadcasting executive, author, and politician. He was the owner of Belvedere Broadcasting Corporation from the 1950s to 1987 and served as president in the 1960s. He served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the 3rd District of Baltimore, from 1942 to 1946.

Early life

McNulty was born in East Baltimore in 1906. He attended parochial schools and was a 1926 graduate at the

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

. He also attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Career

After working as a typesetter, newspaper reporter and bank runner, he became an insurance broker in the late 1920s. In 1953, he founded Charg-It of Baltimore, the first non-store credit card available to Baltimore residents and served as chairman of the board until 1957. In the mid-1950s, he bought Belvedere Broadcasting Corp., the owner of WWIN Radio, selling it in 1987 when he retired. He was president of the Belvedere Broadcasting Company ( WWIN-FM

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

) in the 1960s. In 1949, the McNultys and parents of eight other intellectually disabled children founded the Maryland Society for Mentally Retarded Children, today known as The Arc Baltimore. In the 1950s, the McNultys helped establish the St. Francis School for Special Education, which was previously located on Maryland Avenue in Baltimore. Their experiences led the McNultys to write a booklet titled "Happily Raising a Retarded Child" to help parents in similar circumstances. He was a member of numerous organizations, including the

Hibernian Society Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a S ...

, the

Friendly Sons of St. Patrick The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, officially The Society of The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland, is an American charitable and social organization for Irish-Americans founded in 1771. Organizational history ...

, the Baltimore Country Club and Boumi Temple. McNulty was a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing its Baltimore City 3rd District from 1942 to 1946.

Death

The McNultys owned a winter home in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. McNulty died from cancer at the Blakehurst Life Care Community (now known as Blakehurst Senior Living) in Towson, Maryland, on February 1, 1995.

References

1906 births 1995 deaths Members of the Maryland House of Delegates {{Maryland-politician-stub