THURGOOD MARSHALL

Biography ReportBy Jenna Wood

Childhood• Thurgood Marshall was born July 2, 1908 in Baltimore,

Maryland.• His father’s name was William and his mother’s name was

Norma. His father worked as a train porter and at a country club. His mother was a teacher.

• Thurgood played jokes on his friends at school . The school principal made Thurgood memorize the U.S. Constitution as punishment.

College Years• Thurgood went to Frederick Douglass High school in Baltimore and

graduated at 16.• In 1925, he started studying at Lincoln University ; a college for African-

American students.• Thurgood joined the debate club.• He decided to become a lawyer.• Thurgood met Vivian Burey (Buster) in college and they got married in

1929.• He applied to law school at the University of Maryland. They didn’t accept

him because he was African American. He went to Howard Law School in Washington, D.C. instead. He graduated 1st in class in 1933.

Practicing Law• Thurgood started his own law practice after graduating law school. • His favorite cases were about equal rights. Most people didn’t

have the money to pay him so he would do it for free. Everyone called him “the freebie lawyer”.

• 1934: He started working for the NAACP• 1938: He closed his legal office and started working all the time for

the NAACP.• He took 32 cases to the Supreme Court and won 29 of them. His

nickname was “Mr. Civil Rights”.• He had an important case about school segregation. It was Brown

versus the Board of Education in 1954. He won the case making school segregation illegal.

Changes• In 1955,Thurgood went through ups and downs in his personal

life. Thurgood found out that his wife Buster had cancer. He quit working so he could make sure she’s alright. But she was very sick and passed away.

• Thurgood found someone working at the NAACP named Cecilia Suyat. He fell in love with her and got married. They had two sons.

• In 1961,Thurgood went to Kenya to help leaders write their new constitution.

Judge and Justice• September 23, 1961 President John F. Kennedy chose Marshall

to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

• 1964: President Lyndon Johnson chose Thurgood to be Solicitor General. This person represents the US Government in legal matters. He won 14 of 19 cases in front of Supreme Court.

• October 2, 1967: Thurgood Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court Justice.

A Voice For Rights

• Thurgood wanted all whites and African-Americans to be together. He wanted all people to be treated the same.

• He also wanted to stop discrimination of people.• In the 1970s and the 1980s, segregation still was

difficult. Whites and African Americans often still lived in separate neighborhoods and went to separate schools.

• Thurgood thought is was important to protect all the rights in The Constitution.

Later Years• During Thurgood’s time on the court, he disagreed

with many majority opinions and sometimes wrote legal papers to show his disagreement. He argued when he believed people’s rights were in danger.

• Thurgood wanted to serve on the court until he was 110 years old but actually retired in 1991 due to health reasons.

Rest In Peace

• Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 1993 at the age of 84. His great work led to more equality for all people.

Thurgood Marshall’s Famous Quotes

• A child born to a Black mother in a state like Mississippi has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It’s not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.

• If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.

• In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.

• None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody – a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns – bent down and helped us pick up our boots.

• Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Thurgood Marshall by Karen Bush Gibson• Google.com: Images• Brainyquote.com