Louis André Martinet
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Office of L.A. Martinet, The Crusader & Comité Des Citoyens

Louis André Martinet, also, Office of L.A. Martinet, The Crusader and Comité Des Citoyens. . , Louis André Martinet , Born in St. Martinville in 1849. Martinet was the son of Pierre Hippolyte Martinet, a Belgian carpenter and Marie Louise Benoit, an enslaved Woman of Color. Moving to New Orleans ca 1871. Martinet studied at Straight University. While there he taught French. He passed the Bar in 1875. Martinet was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives for two terms but forced out of office in 1875. Working with the Customs House Republicans, he held positions as Deputy U.S. Naval Officer, Customs Office, Post Office, and Treasury Department. In 1888 he was appointed to be a notary public. He served on the Orleans Parish School Board and fought against segregation of public schools. Graduating from New Orleans University in 1892. Martinet began practicing medicine and teaching there. He served on the Board of Trustees of Southern University from 1889 to 1897. He edited The Louisiana Standard, The Progress, and The Crusader newspapers. Louis André Martinet died June 7, 1917 in New Orleans and is buried in Metairie Cemetery., Sponsored by the Martinet family and the GNO Louis A. Martinet Legal Society. , Office of L.A. Martinet, The Crusader and Comité Des Citoyens , In 1888. Black lawyer Louis A. Martinet opened his notary and law office at 117 Exchange Alley. He founded The Crusader newspaper there in 1889 to fight racial injustice, inequality, and segregation. After the Louisiana State Legislature passed the "Separate Car Act of 1890" Martinet helped organize the Comité des Citoyens to fight racial segregation and discrimination. Meeting in The Crusader's office in September of 1891, the Committee issued a public appeal for donations to fund a series of test cases and a plea to end Black jury exclusion. From shaping strategy to ensuring the safety of volunteers to creating the legal framework used. Martinet was a vital part of challenges to prejudice in railcars, the jury box, and beyond. His work with other lawyers as they litigated Plessy v. Ferguson to the Supreme Court ended when "Separate but Equal" was declared constitutional. Martinet maintained their cause was just and their legal stance was sound. He was eventually vindicated when the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling was invalidated. Plessy was posthumously pardoned., Sponsored by the Angela A. Allen-Bell, Esq. and family and the Justice Center, and the Plessy and Ferguson Initiative.