Biography

      Born to Norma and William Marshall in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thoroughgood Marshall (a name that he later legally truncated to Thurgood Marshall, Sr.) was an activist in the making for the rights of the poor, disenfranchised, and under represented. Marshall was born when subtle and overt White racism was uncontrolled in American society. Black Americans were prohibited from voting due to poll taxes, they could not own property, and they experienced intense segregation in the southernmost parts of the country.

In 1925, a warm and determined young scholar enrolled in the prestigious all black male Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. Tenacious and persuasive, the young intellectual quickly became Lincoln’s star debater. After graduating cum laude with distinction, he enrolled in law school at Howard University, where he graduated at the top of his class in 1933. Essentially, Marshall’s educational tenure resulted in degrees from two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) despite his initial inquiry to the State of Maryland’s flagship institution where he was denied access due to his race. Furthermore, it is important to note that Lincoln University of Pennsylvania and Howard University School of Law are member institutions of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF).

Marhsall’s law career included stints as a private practice lawyer, Chief Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Director-General for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, U.S. Solicitor General and most notably as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall, Sr. won fourteen of the nineteen cases he argued before the Supreme Court during his tenure as Solicitor General; this accomplishment positions him as one of the most winning American lawyers.

No one could have predicted that in 1967, Thurgood Marshall, Sr. would become the first African-American Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Marshall's commitment to education began as a young lawyer fighting the State of Maryland for equal pay for black educators who were receiving the same salary as janitors. Marshall’s mother, Norma Marshall, was an educator, so this profession was dear to his heart. Throughout his career, Thurgood Marshall, Sr. worked within the legal system to make his vision of equal access to education a reality through precedent-setting court cases. In Brown v. Board of Education Topeka court case the United States Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine, which legally suspended segregation of educational institutions.

Until Marshall’s retirement from the United States Supreme Court, he maintained an agenda of assisting those without voices. Due to the racism and injustice that Marshall experienced throughout his lifetime, he was better equipped to deal with discrimination and unfair treatment in his personal and professional career. Marshall succumbed of heart failure on January 24, 1993 at the age of 84 and he leaves behind a lasting legacy of civil rights for all Americans.