[1] She attended Queens College and the University of South Carolina with plans of becoming a director of Christian education in the Presbyterian Church.
[1][2] Martin worked in the Industrial Relations Department at Princeton University while her husband was studying for his doctorate there.
[1] She encouraged the establishment of resource stations in twenty-one localities throughout North Carolina where parents could have their children fingerprinted.
[1] She contacted the North Carolina Department of Transportation inquiring if wildflower beds could be cultivating along the state highways, after seeing a similar project in Texas.
[1] Martin also made restorations and improvements to the North Carolina Executive Mansion during her time as first lady.
Beginning with a grant from the Junior League of Raleigh, she fundraised $185,000 to re-landscape the mansion's grounds, in particular the Victorian garden on the south lawn.
[1] In 1988, Martin helped establish the Executive Mansion Fund, a non-profit that raised more than two million dollars for restoration efforts.