Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was not just a lawyer–he was the lead attorney for the NAACP and the Solicitor General of the United States. He was not just a judge but a federal judge and Supreme Court Justice. Read on to learn about Thurgood Marshall's impact on the civil rights movement and the significance of the cases he both argued and decided.

Thurgood Marshall: Early Life and Facts

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2nd, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland to parents Norma and William Marshall. His mother Norma was a Kindergarten teacher and his father William worked as a dining car waiter before becoming chief steward at a country club. From a young age, Marshall’s father took him and his brother to watch arguments in court, which they would discuss and argue themselves afterwards.

Fig. 1 - Photograph of Thurgood Marshall while on the U.S. Supreme Court

At Marshall’s high school, teachers punished students by making them sit outside the classroom and read the Constitution. As Marshall was a bit of a troublemaker, he became very familiar with the document. Upon graduation, Marshall attended Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania where he joined the debate club and helped desegregate a local movie theater.

After graduating from Lincoln University with honors in 1930, Marshall applied to the University of Maryland Law School. Despite his stellar academic record, the school denied his application because of his race–the University of Maryland was still segregated. As a result, Thurgood Marshall attended Howard University instead.

At law school, Thurgood Marshall developed a passion for civil rights, in part due to his early experiences with racism. He also met Charles Houston, the vice-dean, who would become a significant figure in Marshall’s life as a mentor and door-opener. Houston preached about the possibility of fighting discrimination using existing laws and introduced Marshall to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored of People (NAACP) meetings.

Thurgood Marshall: Work with the NAACP

In 1933, Thurgood Marshall graduated as valedictorian and opened up a law firm in Baltimore. He often volunteered with the NAACP and in 1935, Charles Houston helped get Marshall appointed as Assistant Special Counsel for New York. Together, they set out to overrule the “separate but equal” doctrine that essentially legalized segregation.

Fittingly, one of Thurgood Marshall’s first major wins was against the University of Maryland for their refusal to admit Black students. Murray v. Peason, decided in 1935, desegregated the school. In 1936, Thurgood Marshall took over as Special Counsel of New York, taking the position from Charles Houston. In this position, he traveled to dangerous areas in the South to investigate cases involving lynchings, voting rights, and fair trials.

In 1940, the NAACP founded the Legal Defense and Education Fund with Thurgood Marshall at the helm as Special Counsel. In this position, he came before the Supreme Court many times, winning an incredible 29 out of 32 cases.

• Chambers v. Florida (1940): overturned the convictions of four Black men who gave coerced confessions

• Smith v. Allwright (1944): found that Black voters had a right to vote in primaries

• Shelley v. Kraemer (1948): found that restrictive housing covenants based on race were unconstitutional

• Sweat v. Painter (1950): found that segregated facilities for professional and graduate schools were unconstitutional

Thurgood Marshall's most significant case was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Brown v. Board finally overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine that had been in place for over five decades. The case revolved around a young Black student, Linda Brown, who had to travel across town to attend school when an “all-white” school was far closer. Thurgood Marshall brought evidence before the court that “separate” could never be “equal.” For example, schools for Black students often received far less funding than those for white students.

Marshall also introduced evidence from sociological testing that showed Black students developed a sense of inferiority because of the segregated schools. Although social science was new to the courtroom, it had a staunch effect. In 1954, the Supreme Court decided unanimously in favor of Brown. Segregation did indeed violate the Fourteenth Amendment. As the new precedent, Brown v. Board led to the end of segregation outside of the school system as well.

Thurgood Marshall: Federal Court Judge

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall federal judge to the Second Circuit of Appeals in New York City. It took several months for him to take the position as Southern Senators tried to delay his confirmation, but once in the position, Marshall served for four years. During his tenure, he had a stellar record once again, with not one of his opinions reversed on appeal to the Supreme Court.

Thurgood Marshall: Supreme Court Justice

In 1965, Thurgood Marshall left his position as a federal judge to take on an even higher office as Solicitor General of the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson. After two years of representing the United States before the Supreme Court, he received yet another honor–in 1967, Thurgood Marshall joined the Supreme Court as the first Black Supreme Court Justice.

On the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall was an advocate for judicial activism, rather than judicial restraint. He believed in a living Constitution that evolved in meaning as society evolved. He had a special interest in protecting individual rights, expanding civil rights, limiting the scope of criminal punishment, and restricting states’ rights.

When Justice Marshall first joined the Supreme Court, he had like-minded justices at his side. Chief Justice Earl Warren was also an advocate for judicial activism and had been at the helm when the court deemed segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. However, by the time of Thurgood Marshall’s retirement, he was surrounded by more conservative justices appointed by Republican presidents. As a result, he earned the title of “the Great Dissenter.”

Fig. 2 - Chief Justice Earl Warren

Thurgood Marshall: Later Life and Death

Justice Thurgood Marshall’s Accomplishments

Thurgood Marshall may have been a Supreme Court Justice, but his work before the prestigious honor was just as remarkable. He served the civil rights movement in various capacities, both through the cases he argued and the cases he decided. And, as the first Black Supreme Court Justice, Marshall was a trailblazer, opening the door for later Black Justices.

Thurgood Marshall’s Political Party

Thurgood Marshall was a member of the Democratic Party. It was also a Democrat, President Lyndon B. Johnson, who appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Fig. 3 - Lyndon B. Johnson