Martha J. Bergmark

Martha Jane Bergmark is the daughter of Robert Bergmark, a Methodist minister, and Carol (Comstock) Bergmark, a choir director.[8] In 1953, her family moved to Jackson, Mississippi for her father to become a professor of philosophy at Millsaps College.[2] Bergmak grew up in a traditional Southern middle class community in Jackson where racial segregation between blacks and white residents was common and enforced through Jim Crow era laws.[2] By the time she was in high school, her parents and her were involved at the local level with the civil rights movement and new federal social service programs to help promote economic advances for African Americans.[2] During the summers, she traveled to Tougaloo, Mississippi to work with under privileged African American children—the first summer as an unpaid volunteer aide for the Head Start Program, and the next two summers as a paid teacher's aide in the initial years of the Upward Bound program.[2] The high school that she attended, Murrah High School, was racially integrated while she was student. Bergmark's decision to volunteer as an orientation counselor for incoming black students revealed for the first time to her friends and teachers her affinity to African Americans.[6] Her experience during her high school years motivated her towards her career of working to advance racial and economic justice.[2][9] Bergmark excelled academically in high school and was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in 1966 for the State of Mississippi.[10]

Berkman earned a degree from Oberlin College.[7][11]

Bergmark obtained a Juris Doctor degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1973.[5][7] While in law school Bergmark participated in the first law school clinic at the University of Michigan.[5] As a law student, Bergmark worked as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow at North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, Mississippi's first civil legal aid organization, and the Community Legal Services.[6] Only five percent of her classmates were women.[6]

Bergmark met Elliott Andalman, her future husband, while in law school.[6] They have two sons together, Aaron Samuel Andalman and David Andalman.[6][12]

Her son, David Andalman, wrote and co-directed the movie "American Milkshake,” that was selected for the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. The low budget independent comedy about race, class and basketball in 1990s was produced out of Bergmark's family house on Montgomery Avenue in Takoma Park, Maryland.[13]

Bergmark is a former Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and the 1990 recipient of the Kutak-Dodds Prize for her civil rights and legal aid work.[11] She was the 2010 recipient of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation's John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award.[7] Bergmark was recognized as a Champion of Change by United States President Obama's White House in 2011 for her work to advance racial and economic justice.[5][7] Bergmark was awarded an honorary doctorate of public service from Millsaps College[7] and an honorary doctorate from Oberlin College in 2012.[16] Bergmark is a 2018 Presidential Scholars Roosevelt “Rosey” Thompson awardee.[17]