“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.”
Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.
Born June 2, 1908, Marshall was first introduced to law after being made to read the U.S Constitution as punishment for a prank he had pulled in high school.
The Bill of Rights was what specifically intrigued him in law.
The Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution, which list established rights and liberties of citizens. Even with unalienable rights, Marshall knew the racial injustices faced by minorities in America and wanted to take action to create change.
After completing high school, Marshall attended Lincoln University, a historically Black College and University (HBCU), where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1930.
He would then apply to the University of Maryland School of Law, which he was rejected from due to segregation. Even with this rejection, he went on to attend Howard University. He graduated top of his class in 1933. During his time at Howard, Marshall met Charles Hamilton Houston, whom he joined at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as a staff lawyer. His efforts landed him the position of chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
The 60’s where the pinnacle of Marshall’s legal career. In 1961, he was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by John F. Kennedy. He would then be dubbed the U.S Solicitor General in 1965 by Lyndon B. Johnson. His most momentous achievement was becoming the first black justice in 1967 after he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and joining the U.S. Supreme Court. “
Marshall was groundbreaking. He broke through a lot of barriers. It’s not everybody that gets the opportunity to argue before the Supreme Court, but then also get to go further and eventually become a Supreme Court Justice.”
— Michael Frounfelker, History teacher
.sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 { display: flex; float: left; margin: 30px 30px 30px 0; width: 50%; border-color: #888888; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; } .sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 p.pullquotetext, .sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 p.quotespeaker { } .sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 .pullquotepic { width: 33%; margin-left: 25px; } .sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 p.pullquotetext { font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.4em; } .sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 .quotebar { background: #dddddd; flex: 0 0 90px; margin-top: -15px; margin-left: -15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; } .sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 .largequote { color: #000000; } .sno-pullquote-698380a610c56 .quotebody { width: unset; }In his career, he won 29 out of 32 cases argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
His notable cases:
Brown v. Board of Education (found segregation in public schools a violation of the 14th Amendment)
Smith v. Allwright (Denying black people the right to vote in a primary election is unconstitutional)
Shelly v. Kraemer (Restrictive Covenants that prohibited proprietary sale to black people are unconstitutional)
During this Black History Month, we must recall one of the most influential voices in both American history and Black history. Thurgood Marshall was that voice.