An only child, Martha Walker was born in 1933 in Columbia, South America where her father worked for United Food Company. When she was seven, her father died, so she and her mother moved back to the United States to live with relatives in rural Louisiana where Martha grew up. She married Burley Walker, Jr. during her senior year at the University of Oklahoma, completing her degree in history and government thirteen years later. In 1960 her husband accepted a teaching position at Arlington State College (later University of Texas at Arlington) and the family moved to Arlington, Texas. While her children attended St. Maria Goretti School, in 1970 she returned to school for her Master of Arts degree in Political Science at UT Arlington's School of Urban Studies. She still remained active in various civic and church/school organizations, such as United Way, Fourth of July Association, St. Maria Goretti Home and School Association, and Church Women United. In 1972 she became the first woman elected to the Arlington City Council, serving under Mayors Tom Vandergriff and S.J. Stovall.
From the description of Oral history interview with Martha Walker, 2000. (University of Texas at Arlington). WorldCat record id: 319177284
