Louis E. Martin, 84, black political pioneer, dies

Jet, Feb 17, 1997

Louis E. Martin, the Georgia-born weekly publisher who became a statesman and revolutionized Black politics in America, died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, CA. He had pneumonia and suffered a stroke in 1988. He was 84.

Since the 1960s, the tall, politically astute, ex-newsgatherer insisted to a new generation of Democratic White House occupants that the Black vote be measured on an issue basis and not by emotion.

Not only did he campaign for the first of his race to hold high political offices from judges to Cabinet members, he led the drive for the formation of new research organizations to mobilize Black voting strength.

He founded the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and selected Eddie Williams from the faculty of University of Chicago as its first director.

Millions of dollars were raised at the center's annual dinners, and it became renowned for its voting drives, even in the South. Much has been written of Martin's contact with the Kennedys which started with his idea of candidate John F. Kennedy telephoning Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while he was in a Southern jail.

The call instantly captured the imagination in Black communities, and a listless Kennedy campaign began to pick up supporters.

A principal reason for the Kennedy victory was the last minute Black vote surge.

Named for a while to the White House staff, Martin immediately became the behind-the-scenes architect of many Blacks taking over positions never before held in Washington. His influence prevailed during administrations of later Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter. Included in the category were U. S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Cabinet members such as secretaries Robert Weaver and Patricia Roberts Harris, Andrew grimmer, the first Black Federal Reserve Board member, and Clifford Alexander, a White House aide who became an Army Secretary.

For the past decade, Martin and his wife of 34 years, Gertrude, lived in retirement at Diamond Bar, CA. They were parents of five daughters. He continued to write a weekly column for the Sengstacke Newspapers, where he started his career.

Martin was honored at the last Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Funeral services were held in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that contributions be sent to Louis Martin's internship program at the Joint Center For Political Studies, 1090 Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, D. C. 20005.