THURGOOD MARSHALL AND THE WORKERS CIRCLE
Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), known as “Mr. Civil Rights,” was the key architect behind the legal strategy that fought against state-sponsored segregation. He famously argued before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. Marshall founded the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP. In 1967, he was named to the Supreme Court making him the first Black Justice.
Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908. His father, William Marshall, was a railroad porter and then worked at an all-white country club. His mother, Norma Williams, was a teacher. Marshall attended Lincoln University and then applied to the law school at the University of Maryland. He was not granted admission as the school was still segregated at that time. He attended Howard University Law School instead where he graduated first in his class.
After graduating law school, Marshall started his own practice in Baltimore. Representing the local NAACP chapter, he mounted a successful challenge against the segregation policy of the University of Maryland’s law school. He also successfully challenged the policies of other universities.
Marshall founded the Legal Defense Fund in 1940. He focused on challenging the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson. At one point, he was overseeing over 450 cases at one time. Most famously, he argued before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education where the Supreme Court unanimously struck down segregation in schools in 1954.
That same year, Thurgood Marshall received the Workers Circle’s Human Rights Award for his work in fighting school segregation in person at Circle Lodge. Thirteen years later in 1967, President Lyndon Baines Johnson named Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court making him the first Black Justice. The Workers Circle sent congratulatory messages to both men.
Sources
“Thurgood Marshall: LDF Founder and First President and Director-Counsel.” Legal Defense Fund.https://www.naacpldf.org/about-us/history/thurgood-marshall/. Accessed 23 January 2024.
“The Case that Changed America: Brown v. Board of Education: Meet the Legal Team.” Legal Defense Fund.https://www.naacpldf.org/brown-vs-board/meet-legal-minds-behind-brown-v-board-education/. Accessed 23 January 2024.
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Photo from the July 1967 edition of The Call