One of Our Oldest Alumni

Barbara Fletcher Martin

Class of 1943

Barbara Hortense Fletcher Martin was a longtime educator in Maryland schools and served as chair of the Prince George's County School Board. She and her husband, Clement, famously led the fight to reopen the historic Highland Park school after desegregation forced it to close.

Mrs. Martin was born in Fletchertown, Md. on August 30, 1922 – the fourth out of five children of Walter and Carrie Fletcher. Martin has always loved children and wanted to teach them how to be good citizens and lead a successful life. She decided to attend the Maryland Teachers College at Bowie because she wanted to become a teacher. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1943, just two years after the first class of four-year students graduated from the college.

She taught for a year in Calvert County and then joined the Medical Corps of the Women’s Army Corps when she turned 21. Soon her longtime boyfriend, Clement Martin, asked her to marry him. Since married women were not allowed in the Army at that time, she resigned with an honorable discharge, so that she could get marry Clem. They married in 1946.

After she got married, Mrs. Martin received a master’s degree in elementary education from George Washington University. The couple had four children: Clement Jeffrey, Faye Teresa, Barbara Jo “Jody,” and George Edward.

The Martins worked as teachers in schools throughout Maryland, but especially in Prince George’s County. Mrs. Martin served on the Prince George's County School Board and was chair for four years. She was also president of several organizations, including Soroptimists, Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of St. John and the Women’s Auxiliary of Frontiers International, Inc.

Early in the 1970s, a decision was made for the Prince George’s County Public Schools to be integrated, allowing white and black children to attend school together. Mrs. Martin was chair of the school board and her husband was president of the county chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and they were publicly on opposite sides of the issue.

As a result of integration, Highland Park – which was built as a high school for black children – was closed and eventually became a county office building. The Martins led the fight to reopen a school in the original building, which has since been declared a historical site. Highland Park was reopened as an elementary school in 1999.

Though Clem is now deceased, Barbara still lives in Highland Park and loves to sit on the porch and watch as the neighborhood children – who call her “Grandma” – return home from school. She loves to travel and spend time with her children and other family members, especially her only remaining sibling, Mercedes Fitzgerald, who is 93.