Home Mentor, confidant, friend: Richmond’s first Black mayor, Henry Marsh III, dies
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Mentor, confidant, friend: Richmond’s first Black mayor, Henry Marsh III, dies

Rebecca Barnabi
Courtesy of Henry L. Marsh III Elementary School.

Henry L. Marsh III Elementary School was dedicated in Richmond in August 2020.

Marsh, a civil rights attorney, longtime Virginia Senator and the first Black mayor of Richmond, died Thursday night at age 91.

Marsh served as Richmond‘s mayor from 1977 to 1982 and served as senator from 1991 until 2014. Until his death, he lived in the neighborhood of the school that bears his name and continued to advocate for civil rights.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, whose political career began 30 years ago on Richmond City Council, said in a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch that his heart was heavy with grief and full of gratitude that he knew Marsh.

“As a former mayor myself, I know how tough that job is and have the deepest appreciation and admiration for how well he did it,” Kaine said.

According to Kaine, Marsh also served as a commissioner of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Board after his time as senator.

“Any single one of Henry’s accomplishments would be enough cause to be proud, but he never stopped looking for new opportunities to serve. I’m honored to have called him a friend and mentor and would never have been elected to any office if it weren’t for him. I will be praying for his family and all who knew and loved him,” Kaine said.

As a senior at Maggie L. Walker High School in Richmond, Marsh was editor of the school newspaper, president of the student NAACP chapter and senior class vice president.

Marsh attended Virginia Union University then Howard University Law School, where his roommate was future Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder, who said Friday that Marsh’s death was “very saddening.”

While president of VUU’s Student Government Association, Marsh spoke at the state Capitol against a proposal for state funding of private schools.

After law school, Marsh joined the law firm of Oliver Hill and Samuel Tucker in Jackson Ward of Richmond.

In 1966, he was one of 16 candidates seeking nine at-large seats on Richmond City Council when he was elected. He became Richmond‘s 70th mayor in 1977.

In the Senate, he served as chair of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, which wrote criminal laws and selected candidates for the judiciary in Virginia.

In 1997, his brother, Harold Marsh Sr., was shot and killed in Richmond by a disgruntled tenant of a client.

Marsh published his memoirs in 2018 in which he recounted the days of Jim Crow, including poll taxes and literacy tests that impeded voting, segregated schools, and being forced to move to the back of a public bus.

“Such daily affronts to my dignity also motivated me to do something constructive,” Marsh wrote.

The book chronicles Marsh’s work as a civil rights lawyer and stories from his nearly 50 years in elected office, including as Richmond’s first Black mayor.

“It is with a heavy heart that Lisa and I join the Commonwealth and the nation in mourning the passing of Henry Marsh III, a true giant of the civil rights movement and a tireless champion for justice and equality,”
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia said Friday.

Warner said Marsh’s legacy “is one of courage, integrity and relentless pursuit of justice. Lisa and Henry worked closely together to commission the statue depicting Barbara Johns on Capitol Square – honoring at the seat of our government a pivotal figure and moment in the struggle for civil rights in Virginia.”

Marsh taught everyone around him “that the fight for civil rights is never truly over – that it is one of constant effort, requiring us to stay vigilant and engaged. As we remember Henry’s remarkable life, let us also rededicate ourselves to carrying forward the cause for which he dedicated so much of his own. My deepest condolences go out to his family, friends and all those who were blessed to know him,” Warner said.

Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress, also expressed mourning for Marsh, “a tireless public servant who spent his life working to move our communities, Commonwealth and country forward. Henry was a staunch civil rights leader and a true champion for justice and equality under the law.”

McClellan said that Marsh attended segregated schools as a child in Virginia before he graduated high school in Richmond.

“At every point in his life, Henry worked to advance civil rights and move our nation closer to its founding principles of liberty and justice for all. As a high school student, he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. As an attorney, he specialized in civil rights law at Hill, Tucker, and Marsh, where he took on countless cases involving desegregation. As the first Black mayor of Richmond, Henry continued his leadership and dedication to civil rights and our community,” McClellan said.

When she began her public service career in the Virginia House of Delegates, she worked closely with Marsh, who was then a Senator.

“Together, we collaborated on countless efforts to support the Richmond region. As Chair and Vice Chair, we worked closely together on Virginia’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission to preserve the life and legacy of Dr. King and keep his dream alive. Upon Henry’s retirement from the commission, I was honored to carry on his work as Chair and make his vision of the Monument to Emancipation and Freedom a reality,” McClellan said.

McClellan called Marsh a friend, mentor and role model.

“His life was a testament to the power of perseverance and the importance of fighting for what is right, no matter the difficulty,” she said.

Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for governor of Virginia in 2025, expressed condolences on X today.

“He inspired so many Virginians toward a life of public service,” she said.

Marsh and his wife, Diane, were married for 58 years until her death in 2020. He is survived by his son, Dwayne S. Marsh, and two daughters, Sonya Marsh-Craft and Nadine Marsh-Carter.

“We are in gratitude — for his life, his commitment to this community, and his legacy as a servant leader. We’ve all learned from his example, anchored in integrity, grounded by equity and elevating all people” to fulfill their greatest potential, his children said in a statement to RTD.

His children said that in quiet moments as they grieve as a family they will think of Marsh as a “father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle — and chef in charge of Sunday pancakes.”

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.