Harold D. Martin

Harold Douglas Martin (April 14, 1899 – March 23, 1945) was an American football player and coach. He began his playing career in 1916 when he became the first African American cadet in the history of Norwich University in Norwich, Vermont. Martin served as the head football coach at Virginia Union University from 1921 to 1923 and Virginia State University from 1927 to 1932, compiling a career a college football coaching record of 59–11–7.[1]

Martin lettered in football, baseball, ice hockey, and track at Norwich. He later earned a master's degree at New York University and taught at Miner Teachers College—now known as the University of the District of Columbia. Martin was called into active military duty in 1942, serving as a major in the United States Army. He was killed in an aircraft crash, on March 23, 1945, near Reidsville, North Carolina.[2] Martin is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.[3]