As a seven-year-old
living in Isle of Wight County in Virginia, Henry L. Marsh, III had to walk
five miles each way to attend a one-room school that housed seven grades. There
was only one teacher to teach more than 70 students. At the same time, white
students rode past young Henry Marsh on a yellow school bus that transported
them to a modern school building where each class had a separate teacher. Henry
Marsh, Richmond, Virginia's first African-American mayor and currently a Virginia
state senator, has never forgotten those images.
Senator Marsh is a 1952 honor
graduate of Maggie L. Walker High School in Richmond. He furthered his education
at Virginia Union University, where he graduated with honors with a B.A. degree
in sociology in 1956. Three years later, he received a law degree from Howard
University.
"The true meaning
of success is community
service and dedication to duty."
Beginning his legal career in May 1961, Senator Marsh joined
the law firm of Hill, Tucker & Marsh. He immediately enlisted in the legal battle
against Virginia's massive resistance effort to block school desegregation,
which was brought about as a result of Brown v. Board of Education.
A hallmark of Senator Marsh's
career has been the quality of his leadership. On March 1, 1977, Senator Marsh
was unanimously elected as the first black person in the history of Richmond
to hold the position of mayor. He served Richmonders in this position from 1977
until 1982. Almost ten years later, on November 5, 1991, Senator Marsh was elected
to the Senate of Virginia from the 16th Senatorial District.
To Senator Marsh, the true
meaning of success is community service and dedication to duty. He has proven
time and again that one person can make a difference. "Later as an adult, I
was an attorney who handled the school desegregation case in Isle of Wight County,"
he recalled many years after the yellow bus incident. "The school board defended
the lawsuit by contending that busing students was harmful and illegal."
