Biography of Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was a great African-American, who we should admire during Black History Month. He is an influence to many people who would like to have a career in law and anything related to it. Thurgood Marshall has influenced many African-Americans to become judges and lawyers.


Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2,1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. His real name was Thoroughgood Marshall but he shortened it to Thurgood. Marshall was a descendant from slaves. When he was young, he had a desire to learn about the Constitution. As a punishment for his bad behavior in school he had to read the Constitution. Later on, Marshall graduated from Lincoln University in 1930, then he was admitted to Howard University. After graduating, he begin to work for the Baltimore NAACP(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). He was a lawyer that helped colored people win civil cases.



In 1940, he won his first U.S. Supreme Court case. In total he won twenty-nine cases. Later, in 1940 he was appointed Chief Counsel for the NAACP.Then in 1961 he was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Finally, on June 13,1967 Marshall was appointed a position to the Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall was the ninety-sixth person to have the position and the first African-American to be on the Supreme Court. He served for twenty-four years supporting the ideas stated in the Constitution. Marshall retired in 1991. In 1992 he was given the Liberty Medal for a history of protecting individual rights.



Thurgood Marshall's first major case was won in 1935, it was the Murray v. Pearson Case. In this case, Donald Murray was not allowed to the University of Maryland because he was black. Some of his other cases were the Smith v. Allright-1944, Shelly v. Kraemar-1948,Sweatt vs.Painter-1950,McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents-1950, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In the Smith v. Allright case, Lonnie Smith sued because he was not allowed to be in a primary election because he was black. In the Sweatt v. Painter case, Heman Marion Sweatt was not accepted to the University of Texas School of Law because he was also black. The McLaurin v. Oklahoma case was about making all people no matter what race, have an equal education. The Brown v. Board of Education case was based oh the segregation of whites and blacks in public schools. These are just the few of many cases of Thurgood Marshall.

I think Thurgood Marshall is a great inspirational figure. He was one of the few African- Americans to get a job in law in that time.He had a desire to learn about the rights of the people, so that some day he could put it to use. Marshall wasn't allowed to the first law school he applied to, but he continued to apply to law schools. He was finally accepted to Howard University. People admire Marshall because he pursued all of his goals without doubting himself. As long as people believe anything is possible.

Thurgood Marshall is a great role model. We should not only remember and honor him in Black History Month, but every day. He made impact on the lives of people that wanted to have a career in law. Marshall changed history, he was the first African-American to be on the Supreme Court. Today in the Supreme Court, many African-Americans serve the United States with pride.