Thurgood Marshall – The First Black Supreme Court Justice

Thurgood Marshall

When one thinks of the Civil Rights Movement two names might come to mind. The first, without a doubt, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and the other may be Malcolm X. These two people were both huge contributors to the movement, and moved the public with famous and powerful speeches. However, one important and significant name is often overlooked: Thurgood Marshall.
Thurgood Marshall attended Lincoln University along side such famous people as poet Langston Hughes and musician Cab Calloway. After graduating from college, Thurgood Marshall decided to attend law school. During this time the University of Maryland School of Law, which was Marshall’s school of choice, had a strict segregation policy in place and he could not apply. Instead Marshall ended up attending Howard University School of Law, and graduated first in the class of 1933.

The year after, Thurgood Marshall began a private practice in Baltimore, and commenced servicing as an attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Not long after, he went on to win the case of Murray v. Pearson, 169 Md. 478 (1936). A case which focused on the strict segregation policy at University of Maryland Law School, the very school which he himself was unable to apply to. After this important victory Marshall founded and was the executive director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Soon he began arguing (and winning) cases in the United States Supreme Court. Such as the famous case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka – 347 U.S. 483 (1954), where the Supreme Court ruled in Marshall’s favor, stating that the “separate but equal” law could no longer be applied to public schools. Brown vs. Board of Education is considered one of the most important legal cases of the century. Marshall ended up winning 29 out of the 32 cases that he argued before the Supreme Court.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Later President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to be the United States Solicitor General, the first black man to hold the office. Marshall would go on to win 14 out of the 19 cases that he argued. Then in 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to be an Associate Justice in the Supreme Court, which the Senate confirmed with a vote of 69-11. Marshall was the 96th person in this position, and the first black man in history. He stayed in this position for the next 24 years where he made significant contributions to civil rights, criminal procedure, along with many other areas of law.

Some would argue that Thurgood Marshall was the initial spark which ignited the flame of the civil rights movement. He forever changed segregation in the United States, and believed that integration was the only way that equal rights would ever truly take hold. After his death in 1993, Marshall has had numerous memorials built in his honor. Including: statues, schools, libraries, and airports, which will ensure that his legacy will forever live on.

One comment

  1. […] in 1959 received a Bachelor of Science in business administration. One of Cochran’s heroes was Thurgood Marshall, so Cochran decided to pursue a career in law. He enrolled in Loyola Marymount Law School and […]

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