Virginia Martinez (Louisiana politician)
Encyclopedia
Virginia Morse Martinez, usually known as Ginny Martinez (born ca. 1922 - June 25, 1992), was a long-term Louisiana
Republican Party
official who is credited with having landed her party's 1988 national convention in her adopted home city of New Orleans. Delegates nominated the Bush-Quayle ticket. Martinez had been a notable supporter of Bush.
Martinez was the Louisiana
Republican National Committeewoman from 1977 until her death. As a member of the RNC Executive Committee in Washington, D.C.
, she fought for the Louisiana Superdome
as the 1988 convention site. Martinez was a member of both the convention Host Committee, which produced the 80-page program, and the Calendar Committee. The delegates were greeted by then Democratic
Governor Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III
, who three years later in the spring of 1991 switched to Republican affiliation.
Martinez was born in Milford
in Worcester County
in southern Massachusetts
. She graduated from St. Mary's Academy there and then Hunter College
in New York City
. During World War II
, she was a lieutenant
in the United States Navy
WAVES
. In 1946, after her marriage to Reginald V. Martinez, Jr. (1922–2006), she relocated to New Orleans, where her family resided until 1977, when the Martinezes moved to the nearby suburb
of Kenner
in Jefferson Parish.
Martinez became active in the Republican Party during the 1971-1972 gubernatorial election
, when she, along with state party chairman Charles deGravelles
of Lafayette
and his wife Virginia deGravelles
organized on behalf of Republican nominee David C. Treen
, then of Jefferson Parish. Treen, only the second Republican since Reconstruction to make a serious bid for governor, was defeated in that election cycle but won the governorship eight years later in 1979. She later worked to elect W. Henson Moore, III
, of Baton Rouge and Robert "Bob" Livingston
of New Orleans to the United States House of Representatives
. Martinez was the founding president of the Lakefront Republican Women's Club and held membership in similar organizations in New Orleans and Kenner. She was a member of the Capitol Hill Club in Washington and the City Club in New Orleans. In addition, she was a former vice president of the Louisiana Federation of Republican Women, a political support group founded in 1953. She was the treasurer of the Republican National Convention
s which met in Detroit
in 1980 and in Dallas
in 1984.
From 1984 until her death of cancer at the age of 69 in Southern Baptist Hospital of New Orleans, Martinez served as a director of St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee
. She was buried at the Lake Lawn Mausoleum
in New Orleans.
Award" to honor her work in encouraging young women to enter government
service.
In 1994, Martinez was among the first nine inductees, along with Mary Evelyn Parker
, Lindy Boggs
, and Virginia Shehee
, into the Hall of Fame of the Louisiana Center for Women and Government at Nicholls State University
in Thibodaux
.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
official who is credited with having landed her party's 1988 national convention in her adopted home city of New Orleans. Delegates nominated the Bush-Quayle ticket. Martinez had been a notable supporter of Bush.
Martinez was the Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Republican National Committeewoman from 1977 until her death. As a member of the RNC Executive Committee in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, she fought for the Louisiana Superdome
Louisiana Superdome
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...
as the 1988 convention site. Martinez was a member of both the convention Host Committee, which produced the 80-page program, and the Calendar Committee. The delegates were greeted by then Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Governor Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III
Buddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
, who three years later in the spring of 1991 switched to Republican affiliation.
Martinez was born in Milford
Milford, Massachusetts
Milford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It had a population of 27,999 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Milford, constituting the center of the town, please see the article Milford ,...
in Worcester County
Worcester County, Massachusetts
-Demographics:In 1990 Worcester County had a population of 709,705.As of the census of 2000, there were 750,963 people, 283,927 households, and 192,502 families residing in the county. The population density was 496 people per square mile . There were 298,159 housing units at an average density...
in southern Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. She graduated from St. Mary's Academy there and then Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she was a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
WAVES
WAVES
The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" ; the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and...
. In 1946, after her marriage to Reginald V. Martinez, Jr. (1922–2006), she relocated to New Orleans, where her family resided until 1977, when the Martinezes moved to the nearby suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Kenner
Kenner, Louisiana
Kenner is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census....
in Jefferson Parish.
Martinez became active in the Republican Party during the 1971-1972 gubernatorial election
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1971-72
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1971–1972 was held in three rounds. The two Democratic Party primaries were held on November 6 and December 8, 1971...
, when she, along with state party chairman Charles deGravelles
Charles deGravelles
Charles Camille deGravelles, Jr., known as Charlie deGravelles , was a Lafayette oil and gas landman who was a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party in the formerly historically Democratic state of Louisiana. Known as the “Mr...
of Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
and his wife Virginia deGravelles
Virginia deGravelles
Mary Virginia Wheadon deGravelles is a retiree from Lafayette who was the Louisiana Republican national committeewoman from 1964–1968, a position which constitutes automatic membership on the Republican National Committee. Her husband, Charles Camille deGravelles, Jr...
organized on behalf of Republican nominee David C. Treen
David C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
, then of Jefferson Parish. Treen, only the second Republican since Reconstruction to make a serious bid for governor, was defeated in that election cycle but won the governorship eight years later in 1979. She later worked to elect W. Henson Moore, III
Henson Moore
William Henson Moore III , is a retired attorney and businessman who is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, having represented the Baton Rouge-based Sixth Congressional District, from 1975-1987. He is only the second Republican to have represented Louisiana in the House since...
, of Baton Rouge and Robert "Bob" Livingston
Bob Livingston
Robert Linlithgow "Bob" Livingston Jr. is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist and a former Republican U.S. Representative from Louisiana...
of New Orleans to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Martinez was the founding president of the Lakefront Republican Women's Club and held membership in similar organizations in New Orleans and Kenner. She was a member of the Capitol Hill Club in Washington and the City Club in New Orleans. In addition, she was a former vice president of the Louisiana Federation of Republican Women, a political support group founded in 1953. She was the treasurer of the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
s which met in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1980 and in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
in 1984.
From 1984 until her death of cancer at the age of 69 in Southern Baptist Hospital of New Orleans, Martinez served as a director of St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. She was buried at the Lake Lawn Mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
in New Orleans.
Recognition
In 1991, the Louisiana Federation of Republican Women established the "Ginny Martinez ScholarshipScholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
Award" to honor her work in encouraging young women to enter government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
service.
In 1994, Martinez was among the first nine inductees, along with Mary Evelyn Parker
Mary Evelyn Parker
Mary Evelyn Dickerson Parker is a former Democratic state treasurer of Louisiana, having served from 1968-1987. She was the first woman to have held the position. Prior to her tenure as treasurer, she held several appointed positions in state government...
, Lindy Boggs
Lindy Boggs
Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs, usually known as Lindy Boggs , is a United States political figure who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as ambassador to the Vatican. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana...
, and Virginia Shehee
Virginia Shehee
Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee is a Shreveport businesswoman and civic leader and the first female state senator from District 38. She won her seat in the 1975 general election by 23 votes over incumbent Cecil K. Carter, Jr. and served a single term until 1980. She was defeated in 1979 by fellow...
, into the Hall of Fame of the Louisiana Center for Women and Government at Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System of universities. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the institution split from the Louisiana State University System in...
in Thibodaux
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...
.