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Martin A. Martin
(1910 - 1963)
Martin was born in 1910 in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Union University before earning his law degree from Howard University School of Law. He joined the civil rights law firm led by Oliver W. Hill and Spottswood W. Robinson III in Richmond, Virginia, in the late 1940s. By that time, Hill and Robinson were already prominent attorneys working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to challenge segregation across Virginia.
Martin played an essential role in Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, one of the five cases that were consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the landmark Supreme Court decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. As a skilled litigator and strategist, Martin helped prepare students and community members in Prince Edward County for their historic legal challenge. In the Davis case, he worked directly with students from Robert Russa Moton High School, who had organized a strike in 1951 to protest poor conditions and inequality in their segregated school. Martin’s careful legal arguments and his ability to connect with local Black communities were instrumental in building the grassroots support necessary for the lawsuit.
Martin was deeply committed to civil rights but also led a private, grounded personal life. He was married and had children, and despite facing the constant pressures and dangers of being a Black attorney challenging Jim Crow in the South, he remained dedicated to his community. He worked out of Richmond, Virginia, and is remembered not only for his courtroom skills but for his mentorship of younger lawyers and his deep sense of moral purpose.
Martin died prematurely in 1963 at the age of 53, just as the civil rights movement was gaining national traction.