Biography

Thurgood Marshall: Supreme Court Justice (1908-1993)

Early Life and Education

• Born July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland
• Son of a railroad porter and schoolteacher
• Graduated first in class from Howard University Law School (1933)
• Mentored by civil rights lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston

Landmark Legal Career

• Won first major civil rights case (Murray v. Pearson) 1936
• Served as NAACP Chief Counsel (1938-1961)
• Argued 32 cases before Supreme Court, won 29
• Notable victories:
  • Smith v. Allwright (1944) - outlawed white primaries
  • Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) - banned restrictive covenants
  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) - ended school segregation

Judicial Appointments

• Appointed to Second Circuit Court of Appeals (1961)
• Became first Black U.S. Solicitor General (1965-1967)
• Nominated to Supreme Court by LBJ (1967)
• Confirmed 69-11 by Senate
• Served until retirement in 1991

Supreme Court Legacy

• Authored 322 majority opinions
• Key dissents in:
  • San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973)
  • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
• Championed:
  • Individual rights
  • Equal protection
  • Criminal justice reform
• Mentored future justices including Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Later Life and Honors

• Retired due to failing health (1991)
• Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom (1993)
• Died January 24, 1993 in Bethesda, Maryland
• Memorialized by:
  • Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building
  • Baltimore-Washington International Airport renamed in his honor
  • $50,000 legal scholarship in his name

Key Statistics

Achievement	Year/Data
Supreme Court tenure	1967-1991 (24 years)
Cases argued before SCOTUS	32
Majority opinions written	322
Law school class rank	1/6

“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” - Thurgood Marshall