Marie Foster
Marie Priscilla Martin Foster (1917 – 2003) was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. during the 1960s and a dental assistant. She was instrumental in helping to register many African-American voters in Selma, Alabama, and was one of the primary local organizers of the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. She also helped create the Dallas County Voters League, a group of African Americans that pushed for improvements in the system for voter registration.[1] She was called "the mother of the voting rights movement" and was nicknamed Mother Foster.[2][3]
Marie Foster | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marie Priscilla Martin October 24, 1917 |
| Died | September 3, 2003 (aged 85) Selma, Alabama, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Activist Dental assistant |
| Known for | Being "the mother of the voting rights movement" |
Early life and work
Marie Martin was born in 1917 in Wilcox County, Alabama. She was a dental assistant when she became involved in the Civil Rights Movement.[2]
Civil Rights Movement
Voter registration
Foster became interested in the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s because she felt "the race relations were so bad in Selma".[1] She tried to register to vote eight times before succeeding.[4] Following her successful registration, Foster began teaching other African Americans how to pass the tests used to bar them. One person showed up to her first class, in which she taught the 70-year-old man how to write his own name.[1] Gradually, the classes drew more and more people.
Marches
As the Civil Rights Movement grew, Foster became an organizer for the Dallas County area. She participated in the march on March 7, 1965, that became known as Bloody Sunday. As the march approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a combined state trooper and police force stopped the march, violently beating many of the participants. Foster was at the front of one of the lines, and was clubbed by a state trooper, leaving her with swollen knees. Despite her injuries, two weeks later Foster participated in the march that eventually made it all the way to Montgomery, Alabama, successfully walking fifty miles over five days.[1]
Martin Luther King, Jr. learned that Lyndon B. Johnson would sign the Voting Rights Act when he was at Foster's house. He is said to have cried at the news while with Foster.[2]
Later life and legacy
After the Voting Rights Act was passed, Foster continued to work as a dental assistant.[3] In 1984, Foster worked on Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign.[2] In her free time, she taught children how to read. She died on September 6, 2003.[5] She is buried at Serenity Memorial Gardens in Selma, Alabama.[3]
Foster was posthumously named an honoree by the National Women's History Alliance in 2020.[2]
See also
- List of civil rights leaders
- National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, which has a room named for her.
References
- Tracie Ratiner, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of World Biography. 25 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Gale. pp. 140–142.
- "2020 Honorees". National Women's History Alliance. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- "Marie Priscilla "Mother Foster" Martin Foster". FindAGrave. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- Douglas, Martin (September 12, 2003). "Marie Foster, Early Fighter For Voting Rights, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
- "Marie Foster, Early Fighter For Voting Rights, Dies at 85".