[2] She and her sister Alberta Jeannette Cassell were the first two African American women to graduate with a bachelor of architecture from the university.

[1] There, given her expertise on Gothic architecture, she became the chief restoration architect for the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul (originally designed by Bodley & Vaughn), later known as the Washington National Cathedral.

[1] Martha Cassell Thompson was also a skilled pianist, and organized the Social Services Committee for the YWCA.

They had one child, Karen Thompson, in 1949, who trained at Illinois Institute of Technology and became the third generation of architects.

[1] Martha Cassell Thompson died in 1968, and is buried at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland.