Marshall C. England was co-chair of the Commission on the Public’s Health System from its inception in 1991 until his untimely demise in 2000. He inspired all of us with his commitment and belief in the need for a public voice in health care. Marshall believed in the power of information so he carried his back pack, and many other bags, filled with information that he knew someone could use to make improvements in their community. Marshall’s spirit, soul, and his teachings are still with us, along with his commitment to health care as a right.

Marshall England was born in 1932 in Thomasville, Alabama to the late Rev. L.T. England and Daisy Brown England. He grew up in the south and graduated from Alabama A & M University, served in the Army, and then went on to teach at the Linden Academy High School for three years where he also coached the football team.

He moved to New York City in 1958 and his first job was as a street gang worker at the New York City Youth Board. He went on to work in many different community organizations until during the anti-poverty movement, he founded and became the Executive Director of LABOR (the League of Autonomous Bronx Organizations for Renewal). LABOR was an umbrella agency which included the operation of two day care centers, a housing program, a major food distribution program, a Youth Program, a Big Brother/Big Sister program, and a community residence for formerly mentally institutionalized patients.

Mr. England also believed in starting and building other organizations and working on a dizzying array of issues that impact on poor neighborhoods and communities of color. In his early years in New York he chaired New York CORE and the board of HAR-YOU Act Community Corporation. Mr. England believed in economic development and was actively involved as a founding board member of SOBRO in the Bronx and Harlem Commonwealth Council in Manhattan. He also developed a flea market economic development program for the homeless and minority youth in both the Bronx and Harlem. He would collect donations of goods for people to sell so that they could become self-sufficient.

Marshall England was the recipient of many awards, the last from the Friends of Harlem Hospital in November 1999 shortly before he became ill. The Emergency Room at Harlem hospital has been named for Mr. England.

In true Marshall England style, he would be telling us today that it is imperative to continue his work rather than mourning his loss. As Bill Tatum wrote in the Amsterdam News “He was the kindest man that we have ever known, who had a mission that is not yet completed. His legacy has to be the command to fill his shoes.” The Commission is proud to give awards in Marshall’s name.