Harriet Peat Trader, a retired Morgan State University administrator and former clinical social worker and social work educator, died of lung failure Saturday at her Ashburton home.
Dr. Trader, 76, also helped to develop a Black Family Resource Center for the Baltimore Urban League in the early 1990s.
"She laid the foundation for the whole discussion of black family awareness in Baltimore," said Roger Lyons, executive director of the Baltimore Urban League. "She was a caring and commited individual. I learned a lot from her."
For the Urban League's resource center, she did extensive research into African-American adolescents and families, and was considered an authority on the subject as she wrote numerous articles, led workshops and was a national project consultant.
Dr. Trader was vice president for academic affairs at Morgan State from 1979 to 1989 for two presidents. She was respected by students and faculty.
"She was very delightful and always accommodating," said Cecil W. Payton, the executive assistant to the president at Morgan who worked with Dr. Trader when he chaired the school's biology department.
"She communicated very well with everyone," Dr. Payton said.
Sonia Barbour, a former Morgan State student, said: "She was always willing to listen to your problems and do her best to get you through any situation. She was fair in dealing with you."
A Baltimore native, the former Harriet Peat graduated from city public schools and received her bachelor's degree in sociology in 1944 from the former Morgan State College.
She earned her master's degree in social work from Columbia University in New York in 1946 and a doctorate in social work from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962. She also did post-graduate studies in public health at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.
Dr. Trader worked as a medical social worker at Bronx Hospital in New York from 1952 to 1953, then as a psychiatric casework supervisor at Crownsville State Hospital in Anne Arundel County until 1962.
Dr. Trader was an assistant professor of social work at Howard University in Washington from 1963 to 1965, and a professor and associate dean of clinical programs at the University of Maryland School of Social Work from 1969 to 1979.
She received many national and local awards, including the Outstanding Educator of America in 1971, the Morgan Alumna of the Year in 1972 and Maryland Social Worker of the Year in 1990.
Dr. Trader established the Maryland chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and at the national level chaired the association's competency certification board. She later served as chairwoman of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners.
She was a past board member of the Baltimore City Human Relations Commission and the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Jacqueline D. Fassett, a longtime friend, said Dr. Trader was never at a loss for activities. "She had a very strong commitment to people at all levels," Ms. Fassett said.
For the past 50 years, Dr. Trader had been an active member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and for many years belonged to Heritage United Church of Christ, 3110 Liberty Heights Ave., where services will be held at noon Thursday.
She is survived by her husband, Herbert W. Trader, whom she married in 1952; and a sister, Carrie V. Peat of Baltimore. Her only child, Herbert W. Trader III, died in 1986.
Memorial donations may be made to Heritage Elevator Fund, c/o Heritage United Church of Christ, 3110 Liberty Heights Ave., Baltimore 21215.
Pub Date: 3/09/99