Thurgood Marshall

Early Life and the Seeds of Justice

Born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland, Thurgood Marshall's journey to becoming "Mr. Civil Rights" began in a segregated America that would shape his lifelong mission. Originally named Thoroughgood Marshall, he shortened his name in second grade, tired of spelling it out^[1]. His early experiences with racial discrimination, including being denied admission to the University of Maryland Law School solely because of his race, would later fuel his determination to dismantle institutional segregation^[2].

The Howard University Transformation

At Howard University Law School, Marshall came under the tutelage of Dean Charles Hamilton Houston, a Harvard Law graduate who dedicated himself to training a new generation of African American lawyers as "social engineers"^[3]. Houston's intense instruction and vision for using law as a tool for social change profoundly influenced Marshall. Graduating as valedictorian in 1933, Marshall was equipped not just with legal knowledge, but with a strategic understanding of how to challenge systemic racism through the courts^[4].

Sweet Revenge and Early Victory

In a poetic twist of justice, one of Marshall's first major legal victories came in 1935 when he successfully sued the University of Maryland—the same institution that had rejected him—forcing them to admit Donald Gaines Murray, an African American applicant^[5]. This case, Murray v. Pearson, marked the beginning of Marshall's systematic assault on the legal foundations of segregation.

The NAACP Years: Building the Foundation

Joining the NAACP national staff in 1936, Marshall took over leadership of the legal team from his mentor Houston in 1938^[6]. In 1940, the NAACP created the Legal Defense and Education Fund with Marshall as its first Director and Counsel, a position he would hold for 21 years. During this period, he argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning an extraordinary 29 of them^[7].

The Path to the Supreme Court

Marshall's judicial career began when President John F. Kennedy appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1961. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him as U.S. Solicitor General, making him the first African American to hold this position. As Solicitor General, he won 14 out of 19 cases argued on behalf of the U.S. Government^[8].

Breaking the Ultimate Barrier

On June 13, 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court, declaring it "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man, and the right place"^[9]. Despite facing harsh questioning during his confirmation hearings, including what Time magazine characterized as "Yahoo-type hazing" from Senator Strom Thurmond, the Senate confirmed Marshall 69-11 on August 30, 1967. He was sworn in as the 96th Justice and first African American Supreme Court Justice on October 2, 1967^[10].

The Great Dissenter

During his tenure from 1967 to 1991, Justice Marshall became known as "the Great Dissenter," particularly as the Court shifted to the right in the 1970s and 1980s^[1]. His dissents often became roadmaps for future civil rights advances, articulating principles that would later become law.

Notable Opinions and Dissents

A Voice for the Voiceless

Marshall brought to the Court not just legal brilliance but lived experience of American racism. He reminded his colleagues of the real-world implications of their decisions, often sharing stories from his days traveling the dangerous roads of the Jim Crow South defending accused African Americans^[6].

"History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure." — Justice Marshall, dissenting in Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives (1989)