- Thurgood Marshall
Critical Essay by
Janine Young Kim
Professor, Wylie A. Aitken Professor of Law, Race, and Social Justice
Dale E. Fowler School of Law
View Bio
Thurgood Marshall was a renowned civil rights lawyer and the first African-American to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court. Born Thoroughgood Marshall on July 2, 1908, Marshall was the grandson and namesake of a former slave who escaped to Maryland during the Civil War and later became a successful grocer. As a young boy, Marshall displayed an aptitude for the law with his keen sense of justice, willingness to speak out, and gift for debate. After graduating from Lincoln University, Marshall found himself unable to attend the all-white University of Maryland Law School. He decided to go to Howard University Law School instead and graduated at the top of his class.
After a short stint in private practice where he focused on pro bono work and civil rights cases, Marshall joined the NAACP as a full-time attorney and spearheaded the effort to end racial segregation under the law. He became the chief architect of a legal strategy that would gradually expose the illogic of the “separate but equal” doctrine in public education. His careful and disciplined approach culminated in the landmark 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education, which finally declared that separate is in fact inherently unequal and helped pave the way for desegregation across all facets of American life. Marshall also litigated many other civil rights cases involving such matters as equal pay, police brutality, and voting rights. For his courageous work, Marshall endured numerous death threats.
Marshall was appointed by John F. Kennedy to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1961, and then became Solicitor General for Lyndon Johnson a few years later. President Johnson nominated Marshall for the Supreme Court in 1967 and Marshall was confirmed later that year despite opposition by some southern senators. During his 24 years on the Court, Marshall served as a pragmatic and compassionate liberal voice for equal rights, fundamental fairness, and the idea of a living Constitution. His opinions often highlighted the real-life impacts of seemingly neutral laws on people disadvantaged by factors such as race and poverty. He believed in the importance of affirmative action and a robust First Amendment, and condemned the death penalty.
Marshall retired from the Court in 1991 and passed away on January 24, 1993, at the age of 84. He was only the second Justice to have his coffin lay in state at the Supreme Court’s Great Hall, where thousands of visitors honored him before he was laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery.
