Background
In 1947 Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus founded the NRTA as an advocate for retired teachers' pensions and health care. In 1958 she established the American Association of Retired Persons, later shortened to just AARP to avoid confusion, since the association is for all Americans age 50 or older, not just retired citizens.
Many of the AARP members have formed small community-based organizations called chapters, and NRTA members have formed similar organizations called units. Both serve their members and their communities in educational, social, and other ways.
Today
Nationally there are over 35-million members of AARP age 50 and over, about 770,000 of whom live in Maryland. There are nearly 4,000 AARP chapters in the nation, over 50 of which are in Maryland. Also in Maryland there are RTA units for each of the state's 24 subdivisions.