Thurgood Marshall
b. 7-2-1908; Baltimore, MD
d. 1-24-1993; Bethesda, MD

Thurgood Marshall, the first African American on the United States Supreme Court, was was the son of William Marshall and Norma Williams, a steward at a club, and a school teacher.

Thurgood attended Baltimore public schools and after graduating from Frederick Douglass HS, he attended Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University and earned a law degree from Howard University in Washington, DC, in 1933.

In 1940 Thurgood Marshall became the legal director of the NAACP where he worked to overturn racial segregation. His most famous case is the 1954 landmark Brown v. The Board of Education, which declared that segregation in public schools was illegal. He also won the 1956 Browder v. Gayle, ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the practice of segregation on buses.

In all, Thurgood Marshall represented and won more cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than any other American.

In 1967 Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and served until 1991, when he retired due to ill health.

Once when asked by another Supreme Court justice what equal was Thurgood Marshall replied “Equal means getting the same thing, at the same time and in the same place.”

Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary by Juan Williams - the story of Thurgood Marshall’s successful desegregation of public schools in the U.S. with his victory in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, followed by his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1967 for a 24-year term. Also recounts how W.E.B. Du Bois, then the head of the NAACP, gave a cold shoulder to the younger Marshall (who eventually helped oust Du Bois from the organization), and describes the tug of war between Marshall and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, as well as the mind games Lyndon Johnson played on Marshall before nominating him for the Supreme Court. Readers also learn about Marshall’s relationship with his replacement, Clarence Thomas, which was surprisingly civil given their contrary views on affirmative action. Williams has captured many examples of Thurgood Marshall’s heroism and humanity in this comprehensive yet readable biography of a complex, combative, and courageous civil rights figure.

Making Civil Rights Law: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court, 1936-1961 by Mark V. Tushnet - a chronological narrative history of the legal struggle, led by Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, that preceded the political battles for civil rights. Drawing on interviews with Thurgood Marshall and other NAACP lawyers, as well as new information about the private deliberations of the Supreme Court, author Tushnet tells the dramatic story of how the NAACP Legal Defense Fund led the Court to use the Constitution as an instrument of liberty and justice for all African-Americans. He also offers new insights into how the justices argued among themselves about the historic changes they were to make in American society.

Thurgood Marshall by Thurgood Marshall and Mark V. Tushnet - Much has been written about Thurgood Marshall, but this is the first book to collect his own words. Here are briefs he filed as a lawyer, oral arguments for the landmark school desegregation cases, investigative reports on race riots and racism in the Army, speeches and articles outlining the history of civil rights and criticizing the actions of more conservative jurists, Supreme Court opinions now widely cited in Constitutional law, a long and complete oral autobiography, and much more. Marshall's impact on American race relations was greater than that of anyone else this century, for it was he who ended legal segregation in the United States. His victories as a lawyer for the NAACP broke the color line in housing, transportation, voting, and schools by overturning the long-established "separate-but-equal" doctrine. But Marshall was attentive to all social inequalities: no Supreme Court justice has ever been more consistent in support of freedom of expression, affirmative action, women’s rights, abortion rights, and the right to consensual sex among adults; no justice has ever fought so hard against economic inequality, police brutality, and capital punishment.

Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall by Cart T. Rowan - biography of the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice captures Marshall's irreverent, courageous and uncompromising personality. Photos.

Thurgood Marshall : Fight for Justice (Easy Biographies) by Rae Bains - The “Easy Biographies” series focuses on the childhood and young-adult years of famous men and women who overcame obstacles to achieve greatness. Inspirational and informative reading for students with big dreams. 9-12.

Thurgood Marshall: A& E Biography video - The A&E Biography of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American United States Supreme Court Justice, paints an inspiring portrait of a true American hero, a man known as “Mr. Civil Rights.” Marshall had absolute faith in the power of the U.S. Constitution and worked inside the system (although often at considerable personal risk from racist zealots), systematically changing the law to protect the rights of all citizens. His efforts, culminating in the landmark school desegregation case, Brown v. The Board of Education, went a long way toward fulfilling his goal of eliminating the “separate but equal” statutes which were still the law of the land in mid-20th-century America.

The program features interviews with family, scholars, and NAACP figures who unanimously portray Marshall as a tireless crusader, charismatic leader, and ebullient, fun-loving friend. President Lyndon Johnson, who nominated him to the Supreme Court, admired Marshall mightily and considered him a “great pal.” Throughout a lifetime that spanned nearly a century, Marshall achieved social change, decade by decade, until his retirement from the Supreme Court in 1993 at the age of 85. Perhaps the most moving and amusing footage in the film is of Marshall’s famous 1966 speech, epitomizing both his philosophy and his personality: “There is very little truth to the old refrain that one cannot legislate equality. Laws not only provide concrete benefits, they can even change the hearts of men--some men anyhow--for good or evil.”

Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery (1998 VHS) - groundbreaking six hour series of surprising revelations, dramatic recreations, rare archival photography and riveting first-person accounts. Africans in America helps define the reality of slavery’s past through the insightful commentary of a wide range of voices, including General Colin Powell and leading scholars, and offers unparalleled understanding - from slavery’s birth in the early 1600s through the violent onset of civil war in 1860. Narrated by Angela Bassett; includes the voices of William Hurt and Andre Braugher. Winner 1998 Peabody Award.

LINKS FOR LEARNING: THURGOOD MARSHALL

• Thurgood Marshall
• Thurgood Marshall: ThinkQuest site