ENROLLED
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 193
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUPLESSIS
A RESOLUTION
To commend the historic Martinez Kindergarten School on the celebration of its eighty-five-
year reunion.
WHEREAS, prior to founding the Martinez Nursery School in 1934, Mildred
Bernard Martinez had been forced to resign as a teacher with the New Orleans Public School
system after marrying Maurice Martinez, Sr.; at the time, it was illegal for African American
teachers to get married while employed by the system; and
WHEREAS, the original site of the Martinez Nursery School was at 5315 LaSalle
Street, and it was moved to its North Roman address in 1940; by the 1950s, the name was
changed to "Martinez Kindergarten School"; providing education to three-, four-, and five-
year-olds, it is said to be the first early education center for children of color in the state; and
WHEREAS, throughout the years, many African American professionals supported
the school; among them, Dr. Walter Young, one of very few African American dentists in
New Orleans at the time, provided dental care to Martinez students at no cost; C.C. Haydel,
Sr., a prominent African American physician, provided the students with free inoculations
and medical care that they were denied at doctors' offices due to laws requiring or permitting
segregation according to race; and
WHEREAS, the school has been closed since it flooded in Hurricane Katrina, but
many community members have the goal of reestablishing the site of the Martinez School;
and
WHEREAS, Numa, Maurice and Mildred Martinez's son, a lifetime Seventh Ward
resident, owns the property and is currently working on creating community-building
programs and revitalizing the site; and
Page 1 of 2 HR NO. 193 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, there are aspirations for the site to house an entrepreneurial and
business management support center, a computer lab and technology training center, and a
music education center; there are also efforts being made for the school to be added to the
National Register of Historic Places; and
WHEREAS, thousands of children throughout the New Orleans area received their
early education from the school and often credit the high academic standards set by Mildred
Martinez with starting them on the road to academic success; two notable alumni are serving
as co-chairs of the eighty-five-year class reunion, the Honorable Austin Badon and the
Honorable Ann D. Duplessis, both former members of the Legislature of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the significance of the Martinez Kindergarten School will forever
remain in the hearts and minds of all who attended, taught, and worked at the institution, and
it is fitting to extend to them best wishes for a joyous reunion.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the historic Martinez Kindergarten School
on the celebration of its eighty-five-year reunion; does hereby recognize and record for
posterity the positive impact Maurice and Mildred Martinez made in the academic paths of
countless children in the New Orleans area; and does hereby wish every measure of success
for all those contributing to the revitalization of the school, for it is a treasure of the Seventh
Ward, and should be treated as such.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Numa J. Martinez.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Page 2 of 2