Henry L. Marsh, III

1998 Honoree

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.

• Audio File - Quote From Henry L. Marsh, III

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.

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."