Louis André Martinet (December 28, 1849 - June 7, 1917) was a lawyer, publisher, medical doctor, civil rights activist and state legislator in Louisiana during the Reconstruction era.[1][2]
Biography
editHe was born December 28, 1849, in St. Martinville, Louisiana, to Hipolite Martinet and Marie Louise Benoit.[1][3]
He was a prominent member of the Comité des Citoyens, a civil society group whose most famous action was staging the arrest and subsequent defense of Homer Plessy in an effort to oppose racial segregation resulting in the Supreme Court decision Plessy vs Ferguson.
He served as a state representative in the Louisiana House of Representatives from St. Martin Parish from 1872 until 1875.[4] He was admitted to the bar in Louisiana in December 1875.[5] Then obtaining his first class law degree from Straight University Law School the following year in 1876.[4] He was a notary and set up his notarial practice in 1888 which continued to operate until his death.[1][4]
In February 1879 he was appointed to the City Board of School Directors, re-filling the position he had vacated the previous year in May 1878.[6] In 1882 he was made the Special Deputy Surveyor for the Port in New Orleans.[7]
He published The New Orleans Crusader (1889 - 1896) newspaper[8] and was active opposing segregation.[4][9] In the 1890s he obtained a medical degree from the Flint Medical College in New Orleans.[4]
He survived an attempted assassination May 5, 1896 when he was accosted by a drunk Matthew J. Ryan who placed his revolver in Mr Martinets stomach.[10] Bystanders saved Martinet by overpowering Ryan and handing him over to the police.[10]
He died in 1917.
Personal life
editIn 1882, he married Miss Leonora V. Miller and later they had two children, although one died while still an infant.[11][4]
Legacy
editThe Louis A. Martinet Legal Society is named for him. In 1984 the Louis Martinet Society organized efforts to elect more Black judges in New Orleans.[12]
Further reading
edit- Albion W. Tourgée and Louis A. Martinet: The Cross-Racial Friendship behind "Plessy v. Ferguson" by Carolyn L. Karcher, MELUS, Vol. 38, No. 1, Cross-Racial and Cross-Ethnic Collaboration and Scholoarship (Spring 2013), pages 9–29, Oxford University Press
References
edit- ^ a b c Hémard, Ned. "New Orleans Nostalgia - Remembering New Orleans History, Culture and Traditions" (PDF). New Orleans Bar Association. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ Rosenberg, Charles (2013). "Martinet, Louis Andre". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.38685. ISBN 9780195301731. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Saturdays: Bad Luck for the Martinets". Louisiana Historic and Cultural Vistas. 2014-09-10. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ a b c d e f "Orleans Parish Civil Clerk of Court". www.orleanscivilclerk.com.
- ^ "Louis André Martinet and Samuel Stewart admitted to the bar". New Orleans Republican. 21 December 1875. p. 1. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Resignation of members of Parish Boards - Appointment to the City Board". The Times-Picayune. 9 February 1879. p. 6.
- ^ "Louis A. Martinet installed as Special Deputy". The Weekly Louisianian. 4 February 1882. p. 3. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "The New Orleans Crusader Newspaper Collection (1889-1896)". xula.contentdm.oclc.org.
- ^ "Louis A. Martinet | American attorney and doctor". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ a b "Ryan's Rash Act - A Drunken Freak Nearly Results in Assassination". The Times-Picayune. 7 May 1896. p. 3. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Marriages (Louis A. Martinet - Leonora V. Miller)". The Times-Democrat. 7 October 1882. p. 3. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Louis Martinet Society (1984) : Louisiana Digital Media Archive". ladigitalmedia.org.
