Edward H. Nabb (1916-2002)

Lawyer and Philanthropist

Edward Harwood Nabb, a lawyer from Cambridge, Maryland, and one of the region’s most generous philanthropists, was a proud Eastern Shoreman who loved its history and culture. Excited by the history of the area, Nabb declared, “Let’s face it, this Chesapeake Bay region is where the United States began.”

During World War II, Nabb served with the Army Corps of Engineers in Europe and the Pacific, attaining the rank of captain. He also served in Korea with the 116th Engineers Combat Battalion from 1951 to 1952. In 1947, he married Winifred Harrington and started “reading the law” with her father, who ran the law firm founded in 1894 by Gov. Emerson C. Harrington. Nabb was one of the last people in Maryland to be admitted to the bar without graduating from an accredited law school. Specializing in real estate and probate law, he was the senior partner of Harrington, Harrington and Nabb for more than 40 years.

Nabb, as president of the Nathan Foundation of Dorchester County for 25 years, helped countless Dorchester County students obtain scholarships to attend college at Salisbury State University. A firm believer in education, he said in a 1999 interview: “for every person you educate, you’ve sown the seeds for five more to be educated.”

After becoming aware of the work being done by Dr. G. Ray Thompson at the Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury State University, Nabb established a $500,000 endowment to support its mission.

The Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture was renamed the Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University in his honor.