calsfoundation@cals.org
July 31, 1879
John Marshall Robinson was born in Pickens, Mississippi, one of eight children. Robinson was a prominent physician, civic leader, and co-founder and president of the Arkansas Negro Democratic Association (ANDA). As a physician, Robinson performed pioneering medical surgery and was involved with a number of medical institutions and organizations in Little Rock (Pulaski County). As a politician, Robinson was the main voice in the state demanding equal black participation in the Arkansas Democratic Party between 1928 and 1952. In 1949, he won Little Rock’s (Negro) Man of the Year Award. In 1953, he was one of the first black doctors admitted to the integrated Pulaski County Medical Society.