Marcus Foster
| Marcus Aurelius Foster | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
March 31, 1923 Athens, Georgia |
| Died | November 6, 1973 (aged 50) Oakland, California |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
| Resting place | Mountain View Cemetery |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | B.A., Cheyney State College, 1947 Ph.D, University of Pennsylvania, 1971 |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Years active | 1957–1973 |
| Employer | Oakland Unified School District |
| Known for | Oakland's first African-American Superintendent; founder of the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute; murdered by SLA |
| Home town | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Title | Superintendent |
| Term | 1970–1973 |
| Successor | Robert Blackburn |
| Spouse(s) | Albertine Ramseur Foster |
| Children | 1 |
Marcus Aurelius Foster (March 31, 1923 – November 6, 1973) was an American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as principal of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as Associate Superintendent of Schools in Philadelphia, and as the first black Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, California. Foster was murdered in 1973 by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
He was born in Athens, Georgia, later attending public schools in Philadelphia. His mother Alice fostered Marcus's mastery of Standard English by highlighting its importance as the dominant syntax. Subsequently, as a young man he was both exceptionally scholastic, athletic and rebellious, opting to frequent the Club Ziger where one had to "smoke a stogie and drink a lot of wine to get in. Furthermore, as a member of the Trojans, a neighborhood men's club, his comrade Frye noted Foster "could hold his hands up"". This broad range of youth experience aided Foster throughout his life, affording him a disposition to connect with and inspire students of myriad backgrounds while drawing together disparate groups advocating for alternative, at times oppositional, visions of social reform. He graduated from Cheyney State College and earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.
From 1957 to 1970 he taught, was a school principal and associate superintendent for community relations. He moved to Oakland in 1970.
Foster was assassinated in 1973 by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The SLA claimed they killed Foster because of his alleged support of a plan to create a student identification card system in Oakland that proponents claimed would help keep non-student drug-dealers off campus. In reality, Foster had opposed the identification cards and had worked to water down the plan. The SLA also objected to police officers in the schools, but again they were mistaken as to Foster's position; Foster had stated that he would not allow police officers in the schools. Foster was shot eight times with hollow-point bullets that had been packed with cyanide. His deputy, Robert Blackburn, was also shot, but survived. Joseph Remiro and Russ Little were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the attack. Little was later released on appeal. SLA leader Donald DeFreeze is suspected of being the other person present who shot Blackburn.
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