Mildred Bernard Martinez founded the Martinez Kindergarten School in 1934 after she was forced to resign her teaching position in the New Orleans Public School system following her marriage to Maurice Martinez Sr. According to Mildred Martinez; women were not allowed to continue teaching after they were wed. When the school opened at its original location on LaSalle Street in New Orleans, it was the first and only pre-kindergarten school for African Americans in Louisiana. The Martinez School became a prestigious institution that attracted the attention of many Black professionals who were eager to send their children there. Martinez educated a number of prominent New Orleanians including jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, New Orleans Mayor Sydney Barthelemy, and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young. #NationalBlackBusinessMonth Portrait of Mildred B. Martinez, undated. Photograph of Martinez Nursery Court, 1949.