Thurgood Marshall

Who Was Thurgood Marshall?

Thurgood Marshall was a distinguished American lawyer who made history as the first African American appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1967. Serving with distinction for 24 years until 1991, Marshall’s tenure was marked by his unwavering commitment to justice and equality. He earned his law degree from Howard University and, as counsel for the NAACP, played a pivotal role in advancing civil rights through the judiciary. Notably, in 1954, he achieved a landmark victory in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, which led to the Supreme Court’s decision to abolish racial segregation in public schools. Marshall’s legacy is characterized by his profound impact on civil rights and his trailblazing contributions to the American legal system.

Early Life and Family

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, William Marshall, was the grandson of an enslaved individual and worked as a steward at a prestigious club, while his mother, Norma, was a dedicated kindergarten teacher.

William Marshall had a keen interest in the legal field, often attending cases at the local courthouse and engaging in spirited discussions about the arguments with his sons upon returning home. Thurgood Marshall later reflected on his early exposure to law, noting, “Now you want to know how I got involved in law? I don’t know. The nearest I can get is that my dad, my brother and I had the most violent arguments you ever heard about anything. I guess we argued five out of seven nights at the dinner table.” This environment of intense debate and intellectual stimulation played a significant role in shaping Marshall’s future career in law.

Education

Marshall’s academic journey began at Baltimore’s Colored High and Training School, later renamed Frederick Douglass High School. As an above-average student, he distinguished himself as a prominent member of the debate team, showcasing his exceptional argumentative skills. Despite his achievements, Marshall was also known for his mischievous behavior. A notable accomplishment from his high school years was memorizing the entire United States Constitution, a feat that originated as a consequence for classroom misbehavior.

Upon graduating in 1926, Marshall enrolled at Lincoln University, a historically Black institution in Pennsylvania. There, he joined an esteemed student body that included future Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah, poet Langston Hughes, and jazz singer Cab Calloway.

Marshall graduated with honors from Lincoln in 1930 and sought admission to the University of Maryland Law School. Despite his strong academic record, Marshall was denied admission due to racial discrimination. This personal encounter with educational inequity profoundly influenced his career trajectory.

Subsequently, Marshall attended Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., another historically Black institution. At Howard, he studied under Dean Charles Houston, a pioneering civil rights attorney known for his rigorous standards and demanding teaching style. Marshall later reflected on Houston’s influence, recalling that Houston was adamant about his students prioritizing their legal studies over social activities.

Marshall graduated magna cum laude from Howard in 1933. Following graduation, he made an initial attempt to establish a legal practice in Baltimore. However, lacking practical experience, he struggled to secure substantial cases.

Court Cases

In 1934, Thurgood Marshall commenced his career with the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). By 1936, he relocated to New York City to assume a full-time role as legal counsel for the NAACP. Over the ensuing decades, Marshall played a pivotal role in litigating and winning numerous cases aimed at dismantling systemic racism. His legal victories significantly contributed to the advancement of the American civil rights movement.

Murray v. Pearson

In one of his early cases, Thurgood Marshall, working alongside his mentor Charles Houston, represented Donald Murray, an exceptionally qualified undergraduate who, like Marshall himself, had been denied admission to the University of Maryland Law School. In January 1936, Marshall and Houston secured a victory in Murray v. Pearson, marking the first in a series of landmark cases aimed at dismantling the legal foundations of de jure racial segregation in the United States.

Chambers v. Florida

In Chambers v. Florida (1940), Thurgood Marshall achieved his inaugural victory before the U.S. Supreme Court. In this landmark case, Marshall represented four Black men who had been convicted of murder based on confessions obtained through police coercion. His successful defense underscored his commitment to combating racial injustice and securing fair legal representation for marginalized individuals.

Smith v. Allwright

A significant triumph for Thurgood Marshall was achieved in the 1944 Supreme Court case Smith v. Allwright. In this landmark decision, the Court invalidated the practice of the Democratic Party’s exclusionary white-only primary elections held in several Southern states. This ruling was pivotal in dismantling discriminatory voting practices and advancing civil rights in the United States.

Brown v. Board of Education

One of the most significant achievements in Thurgood Marshall’s distinguished career as a civil rights lawyer was his triumph in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. This class-action lawsuit was initiated on behalf of a group of Black parents in Topeka, Kansas, whose children were subjected to segregated, all-Black schools. In Brown v. Board, Marshall confronted and sought to dismantle the legal foundation of racial segregation—the doctrine of “separate but equal” established by the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous verdict declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” thereby ruling that racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Although the implementation of the Court’s decision was met with significant resistance and progress was painfully gradual, Brown v. Board laid the legal groundwork and provided substantial impetus for the American civil rights movement that surged in the subsequent decade. Furthermore, the case solidified Marshall’s reputation as one of the foremost and most influential attorneys in the United States.

Circuit Court Judge and Solicitor General

In 1961, newly-elected President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Over the next four years, Marshall delivered more than 100 judicial opinions, none of which were overturned by the Supreme Court.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy’s successor, appointed Marshall as the first Black U.S. Solicitor General. In this role, Marshall represented the federal government before the Supreme Court. During his two-year term, he successfully argued 14 of the 19 cases he presented.

Supreme Court Justice

In 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court, the very court before which he had argued so effectively. On October 2, 1967, Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, becoming the first African American to serve on the nation’s highest court. He joined a liberal Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, which aligned with his progressive views on politics and constitutional interpretation.

As a Supreme Court justice, Marshall consistently championed strong protections for individual rights and liberal stances on social issues. He was a key figure in the majority opinion that recognized the right to abortion in the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade. Additionally, in the 1972 case Furman v. Georgia, which imposed a de facto moratorium on the death penalty, Marshall asserted his belief that capital punishment was unconstitutional in all circumstances.

Over his 24-year tenure, Marshall witnessed the appointment of eight consecutive justices by Republican presidents, resulting in a shift towards a more conservative Court. As a result, Marshall became increasingly isolated as a liberal voice, particularly as the Court reinstated the death penalty and imposed limitations on affirmative action and abortion rights. Marshall retired in 1991, succeeded by Justice Clarence Thomas.

Personal Life and Marriage

Thurgood Marshall married Vivian “Buster” Burey in 1929. Their marriage lasted until her passing in 1955. Shortly after, Marshall wed Cecilia Suyat, his secretary at the NAACP. Together, they had two sons, Thurgood Jr. and John Marshall.

Death

Thurgood Marshall passed away on January 24, 1993, at the age of 84.

Legacy and Impact

Thurgood Marshall is often regarded alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as one of the foremost figures in the American civil rights movement. While he may not enjoy the same level of popular recognition as King and Malcolm X, Marshall’s contributions were arguably the most pivotal in advancing racial equality. His approach, which focused on challenging racial injustice through the legal system, offered a pragmatic alternative to King’s inspiring oratory and Malcolm X’s more radical separatism. Following Marshall’s death, an obituary poignantly remarked: “We make movies about Malcolm X, we have a holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, but every day we live with the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall.”

Movie

In 2017, the biographical film Marshall was released, featuring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, and Kate Hudson. The film delves into a largely overlooked 1941 rape case involving Eleanor Strubing, a 32-year-old white woman, and her 32-year-old Black chauffeur, Joseph Spell. Initially, Spell confessed to the crime after 16 hours of interrogation, but later retracted his confession, claiming the encounter was consensual. During the trial, the judge permitted Marshall to assist his white co-counsel but prohibited him from speaking in court. After 12 hours of deliberation, the jury, composed of six men and six women, returned a verdict of not guilty.