Larry S. Gibson - Young Thurgood: The Making of a Supreme Court Justice

Exploring Thurgood Marshall's life has been a privilege and an adventure filled with fascination and discovery. I have received help from many people along this journey that began when I first went to Marshall's home late one night in July 1975.

After that encounter, I decided to learn more about Thurgood Marshall directly from people who knew him in his early years. During the 1980s, I interviewed Marshall's contemporaries living in Baltimorerelatives, classmates, neighbors, friends, and even two of his high school teachers. Among those who generously shared with me their recollections were Cyrus Marshall, Oliver Hill, Essie Hughes, Nellie Buchanan, Charles Burns, Juliet Carter, James Murphy, Carrie Jackson, Charlotte Shervington, Howard Pindell, Harold Seaborne, William H. Murphy Sr., Herbert Frisby, Philip Brown, and Rachel Brown. Helen Ramia, a law school secretary, transcribed the tapes before personal computers and word processing were available.

Having satisfied my initial curiosity about Marshall, I turned my attention to other matters. But the research and writings of my colleague, Professor David Bogen, and his enthusiasm for the history of civil rights in Maryland were infectious. I resumed my inquiries. Drawing on a special interest in photography, I produced some exhibits about civil rights and black lawyers in Maryland, including Thurgood Marshall.

Karen Rothenberg, then dean of the University of Maryland School of Law, urged me to dig deeper and to produce a substantial product. She then took steps to provide me with important resources. The law school acquired microfilm collections of the Afro-American newspaper, the NAACP Papers, the William Hastie papers, and other publications on civil rights.

As I began ten years of in-depth research into Thurgood Marshall's life, the staff of the Thurgood Marshall Law Library, under director Barbara Gontrum, became my steady partners. William Sleeman, now on the staff of the US Supreme Court's library, introduced me to the wide world of electronic databases. Pamela Bluh obtained books, doctoral dissertations, and master's theses from libraries around the nation. Nathan Robertson designed a database to manage voluminous documents and individual bits of information.

Dr. Edward Papenfuse, Maryland's state archivist, with whom I teach a seminar titled Race and the Law: The Maryland Experience, made available to me records stored at the Maryland State Archives and the Baltimore City Archives. No search was too challenging, as he and his assistant, Owen Lourie, retrieved court records, birth and death certificates, photographs, legislative materials, property records, old newspapers, and myriad other items. Archivists in charge of other collections made important contributions, including Seth Kronemer at the Howard University School of Law, Tracey Hunter Hayes at the Langston Hughes Memorial Library of Lincoln University, J. Rodney Little and Mary Louise de Sarran at the Maryland Historical Trust, Kathleen Kotarba and Eric Holcomb at the Baltimore Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, Vivian Fisher and Jeff Korman at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Eben Dennis at the Maryland Historical Society, David Shakelford at the B&O Railroad Museum, Catherine Scott at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, and the staff at the Manuscript Collection of the Library of Congress.

The Afro-American newspaper and its archives are national treasures. I shudder to think what we would not know about our history were it not documented and preserved by the Afro. Publisher John Oliver and Afro archivist John Gartrell facilitated my exploration of this mother lode of history.

Close friends pitched in to assist me. Michael Bowen Mitchell and Dr. Keiffer Mitchell shared important family photographs and original documents about the early years of the NAACP. Dwight Taylor helped me obtain important records from Marshall's college years. Anne Sherrington Davis gave me materials collected by her mother, Marshall's classmate, that highlighted Marshall's high school years. Kurt Schmoke paved the way for me at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center of Howard University. Jacques Kelly of the Baltimore Sun provided insight into Baltimore history and shared valuable photographs from his bountiful collection. James Morrison and Jean Fox Crunkleton helped me understand Marshall's four summers working on Gibson Island. Thurgood Marshall's nephew, William Aubry Marshall Jr.; cousin, Norma Anderson; and cousin, Marsha Jordan gave me family photographs that appear in this book.

I am indebted to many scholars who created a rich body of literature from which I have drawn information and inspiration, including Genna McNeal's biography of Charles Houston, J. Clay Smith's books about black lawyers, Mark Tushnet's writings about Marshall, and autobiographies by Langston Hughes and Clarence Mitchell. My understanding of Maryland's distinct racial experience was enhanced by the writings of Sherillyn Ifill, Garrett Power, C. Fraser Smith, Louis Diggs, and Antero Pietila.

I am profoundly grateful to Bennett Beach, who turned over to me his entire set of notes and drafts from years of research about Thurgood Marshall. I also wish to thank the unknown person who, several years ago, left in my mailbox a file containing original 1930s correspondence to and from black applicants seeking admission to the University of Maryland.

Thurgood Marshall's family has been fully supportive. Cecilia Marshall, Thurgood's wife, graciously and patiently tolerated my intrusions into her home, family photo albums, and personal mementos. Thurgood Marshall Jr. sent letters to Lincoln University and Howard University that opened up to me his father's academic records, which otherwise would have been unavailable. I am honored by his foreword to this book.

I have benefited from association with two strong institutions. The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law was home base, where I did most of my writing. I thank the administration, the faculty, the information technology staff, the audiovisual team, and my assistant, Myra Carter-Hickman. At my law firm, Shapiro, Sher, Guinot & Sandler, managing partner William Carlson and administrator Renee Lane-Kunz saw that I had space to work, store things, make copies, send out mailings, and whatever else I needed. I especially thank my assistant, Earlene Croxton, the office services staff headed by William Gross, and McKinley Thomas.

Joseph Yoor at New World Graphics did excellent photograph retouching and graphic design work. Robert Cronan, an accomplished cartographer, produced the original maps in the center of the book.

When the time arrived to begin converting the extensive research into a single document of reasonable brevity and clarity, Sean Yoes, a gifted writer, helped me organize the material, define the chapters, and begin writing. Paul Jaskunas also gave valuable advice.

As portions of the manuscript took shape, law school colleagues Oscar Gray, Donald Gifford, and Peter Quint read portions and gave valuable feedback. My former student Sarah Garrett, now a college administrator, helped edit the manuscript. Pulitzer Prizeauthor Taylor Branch took time from his demanding schedule to read the entire manuscript and make suggestions. My friend and neighbor Walter Eversley, a brilliant man with a phenomenal mastery of the English language, read multiple drafts of the manuscript and was the source of many improvements. My wife came to insist that nothing went forth that had not been duly Walterized.

Student research assistants have made valuable contributions at each step. Rebecca Tabb and Mary Louise Preis were present for the early interviews. Charles Madden and Munachi Nsofor performed major research assignments. More than two thousand documents were digested and entered into a database by Melanie Barr, Phillip Hummel, Owen Jarvis, Alikbar Esfahani, Megan McDermott, and Rick Hellings. Kate DeAngelis, Laila Said, and Claire McLemore helped manage documents and checked citations. As I completed the writing and editing, Miroslav Nikolav was exceptionally productive. Other student research assistants in the final phase were Andrew Bennett, Adam Spiers, Allysa Rodriguez, Heidi Mun, Tsehauti Retta, and Rory Parks.