Henry L. Marsh

Henry Leander Marsh III (December 10, 1933 – January 23, 2025) was an American civil rights lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Marsh was elected by the city council as the first African-American mayor of Richmond, Virginia in 1977. He was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1991, and resigned from his seat in 2014. Marsh represented the 16th district, consisting of the city of Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, and parts of the city of Richmond, and Chesterfield and Prince George counties. Marsh was a commissioner on the Virginia Department of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, a position to which he received appointment from Governor Terry McAuliffe promptly after his departure from the Senate in 2014.

Early life and education Born in 1933, Henry L. Marsh III was named for his father and grandfather. His mother died when he was only five, and his father had to split up the young family of four children for several years. Marsh was sent to an aunt and uncle who lived in a rural area. While there, he attended Moonfield School, a racially segregated "one-room school with seven grades and one teacher and 78 pupils." His father was able to gather his children together again when Marsh was eleven. He started school in Richmond in fifth grade, attending George Mason Elementary School. Through this period, his father was working and also studying, having gone back to college to earn his degree and showing his children how important education was. In 1952, Henry Marsh graduated from Maggie L. Walker High School, where he was senior class vice president, president of the student NAACP chapter, and editor of the school newspaper. His brother Harold M. Marsh Sr. (d. 1997) also became a prominent civil rights attorney, and later managing partner of Hill, Tucker and Marsh in Richmond, as well as a local judge.

In 1956, Marsh obtained an A.B. degree in sociology from Virginia Union University. He attended the Howard University School of Law with an award of a scholarship, earning his LL.B in 1959.

Career

Legal career During his senior year at Virginia Union, Marsh testified on behalf of the student government at a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, the Virginia legislature, consisting of all white members, was considering laws to enact the Byrd Organization's program of "massive resistance" to desegregation. While there, Marsh met civil rights attorney Oliver Hill, who had also testified against the plan. Hill urged him to go to law school.

In 2014, Marsh accepted a gubernatorial appointment to become a commissioner of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Other accomplishments Marsh co-founded the Richmond Renaissance and the Metropolitan Economic Development Council. He served as president of the National Black Caucus of Elected Officials and a member of the board of directors of the National League of Cities.

Marsh continued his dedication to education, forming the Support Committee for Excellence in the Public Schools. In addition, he established the New Millennium Leadership Institute, founded the Unity Day Celebration Committee, and hosts Richmond's Annual Juneteenth Celebration. He also served as chairman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission for Virginia. A new elementary school in Richmond's Church Hill area is named for Marsh.

Personal life and death Marsh married Diane Harris, and they had three children together. He died on January 23, 2025, at the age of 91.