Anniversary of Thurgood Marshall's Death

“Sometimes history takes things into its own hands” - Thurgood Marshall

(Thurgood Marshall)

Thurgood Marshall was born as Thoroughgood Marshall on July 2nd, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Marshall changed his 1st name to “Thurgood” while in the 2nd grade because he didn't like the spelling of his original name.

(Marshall as a child)

Marshall attended Frederick Douglass High School. He graduated a year early in 1925. He placed in the top third of the class.

(Marshall as a young man)

He attended Lincoln University. His classmates were poet Langston Hughes and musician Cab Calloway. Marshall was a star on the debate team. In his 2nd year in college he got involved in a sit-in protest against segregation at a local movie theatre. He also was initiated as a member of the first black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha.

(Marshall (Middle Row 2nd from the right) as a part of Alpha Phi Alpha)

In 1929 he married Vivien Burey.

(Marshall with his family)

He graduated from Lincoln with honors. He then attended Howard University School of Law. In 1933 he graduated first in his class at Howard. Marshall then started a private law practice in Baltimore, MD. In 1934 he joined the NAACP.

(Marshall in 1934)

In 1954 Marshall took on the case of “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka”. The case which the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" public education, as established by “Plessy v. Ferguson”, was not applicable to public education because it could never be truly equal. In total, Marshall won 29 out of the 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court.

(Marshall in 1954)

In 1967 President Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court. He became the 1st Black person on the US Supreme Court.

(Marshall in 1967)

His most frequent ally on the Court was Justice William Brennan, who consistently joined him in supporting abortion rights and opposing the death penalty. In 1991 Marshall retired from the Supreme Court.

(Marshall in 1991)

On January 24th, 1993 Thurgood Marshall died of heart failure in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. He was 84 years old.

(Marshall’s funeral)

Today is the 24th anniversary of his death. Take time to remember this great supreme court judge today.

Videos of Thurgood Marshall

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoPLitU6jVg  “LOST THURGOOD MARSHALL INTERVIEW with MIKE WALLACE”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBelqJzuWEo  “Thurgood Marshall Interview”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnOB5PpXHu0  “Thurgood Trailer (HBO)”