Thurgood Marshall was a prominent American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as the first African-American associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1967 until 1991. He is best known for his legal work fighting racial segregation and civil rights, including his key role in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Before his Supreme Court tenure, he was chief counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, leading numerous successful civil rights cases. Marshall was a pioneering figure in the movement to end state-sponsored segregation and advance racial justice in America.
Early Life and Education
Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Lincoln University in 1930 and then attended Howard University School of Law, where he graduated first in his class despite being rejected by the racially segregated University of Maryland Law School. At Howard, he was mentored by Charles Hamilton Houston, who inspired him to use the law as a tool for social change.
Legal Career and Civil Rights Impact
Thurgood Marshall began as a private practice lawyer in Baltimore before joining the NAACP in 1936 and eventually becoming director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in 1940. He argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them. His most famous victory, Brown v. Board of Education, overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson and ruled that segregation in public education is inherently unequal and unconstitutional. His legal victories also included cases such as Smith v. Allwright, Shelley v. Kraemer, and Sweatt v. Painter, all of which contributed to dismantling racial segregation and voting restrictions.
Supreme Court Service
Nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Marshall was confirmed as the first African American Supreme Court Justice in 1967, where he served until his retirement in 1991. On the Court, he was a strong liberal voice and often dissented as the Court grew more conservative. His legacy as a champion for civil rights continues to be celebrated.
Death
Thurgood Marshall passed away on January 24, 1993, in Washington D.C. at the age of 84.