Construction of the Malcolm W Martin Memorial Park is underway, and
Martin’s vision of an east riverfront park complementing the Gateway
Arch progresses toward realization. Who is Malcolm W Martin, and how
has his vision of memorials on both sides of the river shaped the
developments on the East St. Louis riverfront?
Martin’s Military and Civil Rights Experiences
Malcolm W Martin was born in St. Louis in 1912. He graduated from
Yale University in 1933 and St. Louis City College of Law in 1941.
In 1941 he co-founded Martin, Peper, and Martin with his father and
Chris Peper. Today the firm is known as Blackwell Sanders Peper
Martin. Shortly after founding the firm, the United States entered
into World War Two. Martin was drafted into the U.S. Army as a
private, spending much of his service time in London. He was
promoted to sergeant, and was later involved in planning the D-Day
invasion at Normandy; he studied the tides of the English Channel to
find the best place, time, and method for the ships to arrive on the
beaches. These contributions led to his promotion to captain, and
involvement in coordinating the ships on D-Day. He later described
it as being a "super traffic cop…..with about 5,000 ships in the
channel". For his contributions in planning and coordinating the
invasion of Normandy on D-Day, he received a Bronze Star.
His experiences during and after World War Two sparked his
interest in civil rights issues. In World War Two, minorities were
segregated, and were placed in non-combative roles such as cooks or
truck drivers. Martin investigated complaints from an all African
American unit about improper food and equipment; Martin found that
they were not given proper food and equipment, and ensured to
improve conditions for this unit. Upon return to the states, Martin
again stood up for civil rights. He was the commanding officer of a
troop returning to St. Louis, and when they arrived in Newport News,
VA, authorities wanted to segregate his troop because the state was
segregated at the time. He refused to yield to the segregation
authorities and kept his troop together. Later he defended an
African American attorney who was trying to get into the bar during
the Civil Rights Era.
Martin’s Community Contributions
After the war Martin continued his contributions to the
community. He was one of the founders of the KETC Channel 9 and the
Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis. He was a trustee of
the St. Louis Symphony, a member and president of the St. Louis
Board of Education from 1965-1977, chairman of the St. Louis
Committee on Foreign Relations, member of the Council on Foreign
Relations, and trustee of the St. Louis Art Museum. He received the
1984 St. Louis Award and the National Conversation Award of the U.S.
Department of the Interior in 1988. He received the former for work
in developing the east bank extension of the Jefferson National
Expansion Memorial Park.
Martin’s Mission
Before the arch was completed in 1965, Martin wanted to extend
the surrounding park to encompass both sides of the river, and
complete the arch’s’ architect Eero Saarinen’s vision of the park.
