Maceo Conrad Martin: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 18:48, 11 July 2021
Maceo Conrad Martin Jr. (1923 – ) was a prominent Danville, Virginia banker, U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force officer, fighter pilot with the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen or "Red Tails." He was one of the 1007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.[1] The brother of famed Civil Rights attorney, Martin Martin,
Early Life
Martin was born in Danville, Virginia. He was the oldest of three children born to the Maceo Conrad Martin Sr. and Lavinia Henderson Martin.[2] Martin's father, Maceo Conrad Martin Sr. (1897-1981), was a founding member of the Savings Bank of Danville (later the "First State Bank"), Virginia's oldest African American-owned financial institution founded September 8, 1919. Martin Sr. served as the First State Bank's officer from 1919 to 1970, becoming its president in 1951. He also served as the President of the National Bankers Association. Martin Sr. also served as the only African American juror on a special seven-man grand jury formed during Danville, Virginia's 1963 civil rights demonstrations. He filed the sole dissent to protest the protesters' indictments. Martin Sr.'s bank posted bond for all 20 jailed demonstrators.[3]
Martin Jr.'s brother, Martin Martin was a prominent civil rights attorney and law partner of famed civil rights attorney, Oliver Hill.[4]
World War II Military Service, Tuskegee Airmen
On October 15, 1943, Martin enlisted in the U.S. Army in Roanoke Virginia with the initial rank of Private.[5]
Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Commonwealth of Virginia
In 1948, Martin and his family embarked on a vacation to Staunton River State Park. Park authorities denied the Martins entry to the state park based on his race. Martin consulted the prestigious Richmond, Virginia-based civil rights law firm of Hill, Tucker and Robinson, led by Oliver Hill, famed civil rights attorney and Thurgood Marshall's Howard University of Law classmate. Hill's firm filed a civil suit against the Commonwealth of Virginia under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The suit alleged that Staunton River State Park's policy only allowed white citizens to use its facility, with no accommodations for African Americans.
In response, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Development converted a segregated African-American/"Colored Only" recreation area into a state park facility: the "Prince Edward State Park for Negroes" (now the Twin Lakes State Park).In 1949, then-Virginia Governor William Tuck allotted $195,000 to create 6 housekeeping cabins, an expanded swimming area, expanded parking, a bathhouse, and concession stand.[6]
Opened to the general "Colored Only/African-Americans Only" public in June 1950, Prince Edward State Park for Negroes became the Commonwealth of Virginia's eighth state park and the only pre-Civil Rights Era state park for African-Americans. [7] African Americans from across the mid-Atlantic states visited the park for its swimming, recreation, camping and dancing.[8]
- ^ "Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster". CAF Rise Above. CAF Rise Above. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ Legacy. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/godanriver/name/edwina-martin-obituary?pid=197469986
- ^ THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE. "First State Bank." https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=171809
- ^ Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. "In the Interest of Justice." https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks//blog/in-the-interest-of-justice?id=in-the-interest-of-justice
- ^ Martin was assigned Military serial# 33658135. Ancient Faces Genealogy Database. "Maceo Conrad Martin." https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/maceo-c-jr-martin-birth-1923-united-states/154894866
- ^ Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. "Maceo Conrad Martin." https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/document/tlsp-digimarc-pilot-maceo-martin.pdf
- ^ "History of a Pre-Civil Rights Era State Park." Christen Miller. February 19, 2019. https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/blog/black-history-month-prince-edward-state-park-for-negroes-a-refuge-for
- ^ Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. "In the Interest of Justice." https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks//blog/in-the-interest-of-justice?id=in-the-interest-of-justice