Helen Johnson Martin Papers

Helen Eva Johnson Martin was born to Edith Hoesktra and Robert Johnson in North Middleboro, Massachusetts on May 21, 1925. She attended Wakefield High School and enrolled in Tufts College as a student at the Jackson College for Women in 1943. Martin took courses and participated in seminars lead by Professor John Holmes throughout her career at Tufts. As a student Martin attended Tufts on a full scholarship and also worked as a nanny for members of the Tufts community and families in New York City. Martin served as the managing editor and the co-editor in chief of the Tuftonian for the 1946-1947 school year, and was the feature editor (Jackson) of the 1947 Jumbo yearbook. In addition to work on the Tuftonian and the Jumbo, Martin was an active member of the Canterbury Club, the Sociology Club, the Alexander Bain Society, Student Council, and served as house president of her dorm. Martin graduated from Tufts in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

After graduating, Martin began working for the University of Northern Colorado, where she met Albert Martin, whom she married in 1949. They settled in Pasadena, California and raised two children, daughter Laurel and son Tracy. In 1963 Martin received a Master’s in Vocational Counseling from the California State College in Los Angeles, and later worked for the State of California’s Department of Rehabilitation, becoming the Assistant Deputy Director for Field Operations for Southern California. She relocated to Sacramento, California and worked in the Department of Rehabilitation for 30 years. Helen Johnson Martin died in Tempe, Arizona in 2016 at the age of 91.