him and was appointed as a deputy superintendent. Foster became highly respected in Oakland, negotiating in a volatile environment with numerous groups and people of various political orientations. He worked to raise the success of students in the minority-majority schools, where many families struggled with poverty. There had been a record voter turnout in the May 1973 election for mayor, a part-time position. Republican incumbent John H. Reading won a third four-year term by defeating Democrat Bobby Seale, a co-founder of the Black Panthers and advocate of social programs. Foster worked with the groups they represented and also within the environment of a state governed by conservative Republican Ronald Reagan. Death Foster was assassinated on November 6, 1973, and his deputy Robert Blackburn was wounded as they left a school board meeting. Members of an unknown group, named the Symbionese Liberation Army, claimed responsibility. The SLA sent letters to media claiming that they killed Foster because of his alleged support of a plan to require a student identification card system in Oakland, which they called "fascist". The proposed program was intended to reduce vagrancy and keep non-student drug-dealers off campus, and Foster had already gained support from the board to modify it to meet community concerns. Foster was shot eight times with hollow-point bullets that had been packed with cyanide, a detail that the police did not initially publicize so it could be used as a calling card if necessary. Blackburn was wounded but survived. Police originally discounted the flyers from the unknown SLA, but when the group noted the cyanide in the bullets, law enforcement realized they had a claim. The group was later classified as terrorist based on actions including kidnapping and armed robberies. Foster is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. His widow, Albertine Ramseur Foster, died in 2011. She was buried alongside him. Their daughter, Marsha Foster Boyd, is President Emerita of Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. Honors and tributes Foster received the prestigious Philadelphia Award in 1969, which recognizes individuals who have made positive contributions to the city of Philadelphia. After his death, several sites were named in his honor. These included the athletic fields at Gratz High School and the Marcus Foster Indoor Pool in Philadelphia, and the Student Union building at Cheyney University, his alma mater. In 1973 Foster had founded the Oakland Education Institute, to raise discretionary funds to promote