Glenn L. Starks - Thurgood Marshall: A Biography

GLENN L. STARKS, PhD, holds a doctorate in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth Universitys L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. He has 20 years of experience working for the U.S. government and has written extensively on public administration and American politics, including two recent books on the history of the U.S. government.

F. ERIK BROOKS, PhD, is an assistant to the dean of the college of liberal arts and social sciences and associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro. He holds a doctorate in public policy and administration from Virginia Commonwealth Universitys L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. He has written extensively on public administration, American politics, and African American history, including Greenwoods Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

THURGOOD MARSHALL
A Biography

Glenn L. Starks

Copyright 2012 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Starks, Glenn L., 1966

Thurgood Marshall : a biography / Glenn L. Starks, F. Erik Brooks.

p. cm. (Greenwood biographies)

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-313-34916-4 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-313-34917-1 (ebook) 1. Marshall, Thurgood, 19081993. 2. United States. Supreme CourtBiography. 3. African American judgesBiography. 4. JudgesUnited StatesBiography. I. Brooks, F. Erik. II. Title.

KF8745.M34S73 2012

347.732634dc23

[B] 2011051894

ISBN: 978-0-313-34916-4

EISBN: 978-0-313-34917-1

16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5

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Thurgood Marshall remains one of the most prolific and influential figures in American legal and civil rights history. His success in winning landmark Supreme Court cases ending racial segregation was the foundation of African Americans gaining equal rights in education, politically and socially. He was also a champion for womens rights, the poor, the mentally ill, and ensuring those convicted of crimes were afforded due process under the law. Because of his skills and experience as a lawyer, he gained further success in public service. From being appointed a Circuit Court Judge and then the first African American U. S. solicitor general, he then became the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. His indelible influence on law is evidenced by the countless cases that have been tried since his retirement from the Supreme Court that are based on precedents he either argued himself as a lawyer or ruled on as a judge. An editorial in the Washington Afro-American after Thurgoods death describes the impact of his accomplishments: 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.

While he is celebrated as one of the most important and influential African American figures in history, Thurgood spent his life not only championing causes that benefited African Americans but also all Americans. A quote by Duke University Professor John Hope Franklin in Ebony magazine appropriately speaks to Thurgoods legacy:

If you study the history of Marshalls career, the history of his rulings on the Supreme Court, even his dissents, you will understand that when he speaks, he is not speaking just for black Americans but for Americans of all times. He reminds us constantly of the great promise this country has made of equality, and he reminds us that it has not been fulfilled. Through his life he has been a great watchdog, insisting that this nation live up to the Constitution. (Ebony, 1990, p. 68)

Beyond being a brilliant lawyer, Thurgood Marshall is remembered as a storyteller, for his humor, and for his ability to turn the lessons of his own life into a commitment to make life better for everyone.

July 2, 1908 Thoroughgood (Thurgood) Marshall is born in Baltimore, Maryland.

1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) founded.