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 Thurgood Marshall & the NAACP

Most people know Thurgood Marshall as the first African American Supreme Court Justice, however he has a long history that led him there. 

Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore Maryland to Norma and William Marshall. His upbringing was seemingly normal, I was unable to find any key details about the youngest times of his life. He attended the Colored High and Training school in Maryland and graduated in 1925 with honors. He then went on to higher education in university.

In 1930, Marshall graduated from Lincoln University. He was rejected from the University of Maryland’s Law school due to his race which was unfortunately common at the time but ended up graduating with his law degree from Howard University. During his college years he met his mentor, Charles Hamilton
Houston. Hamilton would go on to work with Marshall for several cases.

One of their first cases after Marshall graduated was Murray v. Pearson in which Donald Gaines Murray sued the University of Maryland for rejecting his application due to his race. The duo of Marshall and Houston argued the case together and ended up with Marshall’s first major victory.

Sometime after this, Marshall joined the NAACP as a staff lawyer with Houston as his employer. He was a staff lawyer for several years arguing several cases against segregation. He was declared the Chief of the NAACP legal defense and educational fund in 1940. His department worked to create some kind of legal assault against segregation. 

After many years, he became a Supreme Court justice in which he won 29 cases. His most famous case being Brown v. Board of Education. He remained with the Supreme Court until retirement in 1991. He then focused on a more private life with his wife and children. He did occasionally serve as a visiting judge on the Second Circuit Board of Appeals. Eventually after his declining health, Marshall passed away in 1991.

Some of the cases he argued during his life.

• Smith v. Allwright (1944)

• Morgan v. Virginia (1946)

• Sweatt v. Painter (1950)

• Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)