1942 – 2013
Tony Martin (1942–2013) was a Trinidadian-American historian and professor emeritus at Wellesley College, best known for his foundational scholarship on Marcus Garvey and the Pan-African movement. His work championed the recovery and legitimation of African and African diasporic intellectual traditions, arguing that Black scholars have independently produced rigorous, transformative knowledge outside European academic frameworks. He remains a significant and contested figure in African diaspora studies.
Authored 'Race First' (1976), the definitive scholarly study of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA
Championed recognition of African and African-descended thinkers as autonomous knowledge producers
Taught African diaspora history at Wellesley College for over three decades
Contributed to the recovery and documentation of Caribbean intellectual and political history
Edited and published primary sources on Garveyism and Black nationalist thought