Melissa Van Cott

Mrs. Godfrey

Honors Leadership

05 November 2019

Biographical Research - Thurgood Marshall 

 
❏ Lifespan:  

❏ Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in 

Baltimore, Maryland 

❏ He died on January 24, 1993 

❏ He died at the Walter Reed National Military 

Medical Center 

❏ Early Family Background and Created Family Structure 

❏ Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, 

Maryland, to William and Norma Marshall 

❏ William was the grandson of a slave who worked as 

a steward at an exclusive club 

❏ Urma taught kindergarteners  

 ❏ His name was shortened from “Thoroughgood” to 

“Thurgood” in the second grade 

❏ Thurgood’s father instilled in him the appreciation for 

the United States Constitution  

  

❏ Major Career/Professional Events and Accomplishments 

❏ Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson, Marshall was the first 

African American to hold the position of Associate Justice 

of the Supreme Court of the United States 

❏ Won 14 out of 19 of his cases 

❏ Almost 30 Supreme Court victories before his 

appointment 

❏ At Howard University, Marshall was valedictorian of his 

class in 1933 

❏ After denying a postgraduate scholarship to Harvard, 

Marshall began his own practice in Baltimore 

❏ One of his most well known cases, Marshall succesfully 

argued that the segregation of children in public schools 

was unconstitutional 
 ❏ Brown v. Board of Education   

❏ Personal Life Themes/Belief 

❏ Thurgood was always very argumentative 

❏ He was a star member of his high school’s debate 

team 

❏ Turgood was mischievous  

❏ Marshall was very interested in the governmental laws 

and documents that shape the nation 

❏ While in high school Marshall memorized the entire 

United States Constitution  

❏ Marshall applied to the University of Maryland Law 

school and was rejected due to his race 

❏ This fueled Marshall to stand up for the rights of 

colored people 

❏ Inspired his career path  

❏ When Thurgood attended Lincoln University, he joined a 

student body 
 ❏ The group included the future president of Ghana 

(Kwame Nkrumah,) the famous poet (Langston 

Hughes,) and famous jazz singer (Cab Calloway)  

❏ Selected Quotations 

❏ “Each of you, as an individual, must pick your own goals. 

Listen to others, but do not become a blind follower.” 

❏ “We can always stick together when we are losing, but 

tend to find means of breaking up when we’re winning. 

In Grace under Pressure.” 

❏ “History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come 

in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too 

extravagant to endure.” 

❏ “Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.” 

❏ “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.”  

 ❏ “Racism separates, but it never liberates. Hatred 

generates fear, and fear once given a foothold; binds, 

consumes and imprisons. Nothing is gained from 

prejudice. No one benefits from racism.” 

❏ Awards and Recognition 

❏ Spingarn Medal 

❏ 1946 

❏ Presedential Medal of Freedom 

❏ 1993    

❏ Thurgood Marshall Award 

❏ Given to an indivudual who shows commitment to 

the protection of civil rights in our country 

❏ Death and Aftermath 

❏ Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 1993  

❏ He died of congestive heart failure 

❏ Place of death: Walter Reed National Military 

Medical Center 
 ❏ Thurgood Marshall has been grouped with other 

influencers like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as 

one of the most prominent figures of the American civil 

rights movement  

❏ “We make movies about Malcolm X, we get a holiday to 

honor Dr. Martin Luther King, but every day we live with 

the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall.” 

❏ Won the court case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 

❏ Rule that the segregation of children in public 

schools was unconstitutional   

❏ Lasting Impact and Contributions 

❏ ​“Inscribed above the front entrance to this Court 

building are the words, ‘Equal Justice Under Law.’ Surely 

no individual did more to make these words a reality than 

Thurgood Marshall.” 

❏ After his death, the Court honored Marshall for his 

contributions to constituional law and serving on 

the court with grace and justice 

 ❏ Ending of segregation in public schools with the winning 

of Brown v. Board of Education 

❏ Worked with the Supreme Court to end the lasting legacy 

of slavery within the country 

❏ Left a legacy that would forever change the United 

State’s Judicial Branch 

❏ First African American to be on the Supreme Court 

❏ Ending of segregation in schools, housing, 

transportation, and voting  

❏ Works Cited 

❏ “{{meta.PageTitle}}.” {
​ {meta.SiteName}}​, 

https://www.oyez.org/justices/thurgood_marshall​.   

❏ Thurgood Marshall Biography​. 

http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/marshall.htm​.  

❏ “Justice Thurgood Marshall Profile - Brown v. Board of 

Education Re-Enactment.” ​United States Courts​, 

https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educat
 ional-activities/justice-thurgood-marshall-profile-bro

wn-v-board​.  

❏ “Thurgood Marshall.” N
​ AACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund​, 

https://www.naacpldf.org/about-us/history/thurgood-

marshall/​.