Blacks@Dartmouth 1775 to 1960

James Ernest Martin, Jr.

College athlete (track), dentist and civil rights leader in Bluefield, West Virginia

alumnus image

Dartmouth College

Class of 1920

1921 Tufts Univ (D.D.S.)

Born  1897  Cambridge MA

Died 1973 Washington DC

Quotes from Biographical Sources

Dr. James Ernest Martin, prominent dentist and civil rights leader of Bluefield, West Virginia died recently in Washington, D.C. following a short illness. Dr. Martin, who had practiced dentistry for over forty years in Bluefield, earned his D.D.S. degree from Tufts University in 1921. He had been a lifetime member of the local NAACP and served the organization in the capacity of president and treasurer.

In addition to being a dentist and civil rights worker, Dr. Martin was also an avid sportsman. A four-letter man at Tufts he later joined the coaching staff of Lincoln University and then Bluefield State College.

Dr. Martin leaves to mourn, his widow, Bernice Hughes Martin, a brother Julius F. Martin and countless friends.


Bury Noted W. Virginia Dentist. (Jan 26, 1974). New York Amsterdam News, p. A8.

Other source(s)

  1. White, Derrick E. Black Sporting Experience at Dartmouth. Retrieved from http://sites.dartmouth.edu/blacksportingexperience/james-martin-20/

Profile image source:  https://archives.colby-sawyer.edu/uncategorized/IO_27312bed-4e57-418a-acaf-0e912de318d2/