Thurgood
Marshall
By: Lorin Murphy
This book belongs to:
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Young Thurgood
Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore,
Maryland in 1908. Thurgood was a very smart
boy who loved to argue. His father had always
wanted to be a lawyer, so he taught his son
how to debate, or argue effectively. All of
Thurgood’s arguing sometimes bothered his
teachers. They let him read the Constitution to
keep him busy.
What could Thurgood learn from reading the
Constitution?
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LAWYER
MARYLAND
SEGREGATION
SUPREME COURT
THURGOOD
MARSHALL
Thurgood’s father, and his mother too, taught
Thurgood to do more than debate. They taught
him that education was very important. They
also taught him to be proud of being African
American. Thurgood’s parents helped him
when he felt bullied. He learned from a young
age that he should never let anyone keep him
from doing or saying what he knew was right.
This right is called the right of freedom of
conscience and expression.
Thurgood finished high school in 1925. Next,
he went to college at Lincoln University in
Pennsylvania. Lincoln was the very first
university for African American students in the
United States. At college, Thurgood studied to
be a lawyer. There were not many African
American lawyers at that time because unfair
rules made it hard for African Americans to go
to law school.
Segregation was also common when
Thurgood was a young man. People were
separated by race in public places like
restaurants, buses, hotels, and schools. Once,
Thurgood went to a segregated movie theater
with his friends. He was not allowed to sit close
to the screen because the seats for African
Americans were in the balcony. Thurgood tried
to sit close to the screen anyway. When the
usher told him to move, Thurgood and his
friends asked for their money back, but the
theater would not give them a refund. Thurgood
was very frustrated by this unfair treatment.
Write ten new
facts that you
learned about
Thurgood
Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
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What would you do if you lived in the time of
segregation?
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Thurgood Marshall served as a Supreme Court
Justice for 24 years! During that time he
worked to make sure that all Americans were
treated fairly. He died on January 24th, 1993,
but he is remembered every day by people
because of the unfair laws that he worked to
change.
This statue of Thurgood Marshall is located
near his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.
Thurgood graduated from college with excellent
grades. He wanted to go to the University of
Maryland Law School near his hometown of
Baltimore, but African Americans were not
allowed. Instead, he went to Howard University
Law School. At Howard, Thurgood was a great
student. He became friends with one of his
teachers named Charles Hamilton Houston.
Charles and Thurgood started thinking of ways
that they could use the laws written in the
Constitution to protect the rights of African
Americans. They decided they would take their
argument to the Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court could decide if the segregation laws
followed the rules written in the constitution.
Thurgood and the NAACP
In 1934, Thurgood began working as a lawyer
for a group called the NAACP. NAACP means
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. “Colored People” is an old way
of saying African Americans. We do not use
that phrase any more today. Thurgood and his
friend Charles worked together with the NAACP
to fight for the rights of African Americans.
Match the term to its definition. ___1. diligence a. a formal argument ___2. segregation b. refusing to buy, sell, or use something as a way of protesting something you think is wrong ___3. debate c. hard work towards a goal ___4. boycott d. when people are forced to separate based on race
This is the Supreme Court building where Thurgood
was a judge. Where do you think early Americans got
the idea for the shape of this building? Explain why
you think so.
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Which branch of the government did Thurgood work
in? How do you know?
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Thurgood Marshall, Lawyer to Judge
Separate but Equal
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson chose
Thurgood Marshall to be a judge on the
Supreme Court. Thurgood was the first African
American to ever serve in that important
position. President Johnson said, “I believe it is
the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the
right man, and the right place.” He knew that
Thurgood was a smart and fair person who
understood the Constitution very, very well.
In 1935, Thurgood was put in charge of a big case. An
African American man named Donald Murray wanted
to sue the University of Maryland Law School because
they would not let him go to school there. Thurgood
remembered how frustrated he had been when he
couldn’t go to that same school. He and his friend
Charles were ready for the chance to fight this unfair
segregation.
In the 1930s, colleges and other schools used a rule
called “separate but equal.” African Americans could
be forced to go to separate schools from whites, if the
schools gave an equal education. Thurgood and
Charles argued in court that there was no law school
in Maryland that gave an equal education to African
Americans. They won the case and Donald Murray
was allowed to go to the University of Maryland Law
School. Thurgood went on to win lots of other cases
like Donald Murray’s. He even argued in front of the
Supreme Court a few times.
Why do you think “separate but equal” was unfair?
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A Very Important Case
Civil Rights
In 1951, an African American third grader
named Linda Brown was not allowed to go to
the school closest to her house because of
segregation. Her father called the NAACP and
they agreed to help Mr. Brown and other
families in his home state of Kansas who had
the same problem. The case was called
“Brown versus the Board of Education.”
Thurgood fought the case all the way to the
Supreme Court.
Linda Brown,
age 9
In the 1950s and 1960s, although schools were
no longer segregated, many other places still
were and African Americans were still being
treated unfairly. All over the United States
people wanted this to change. People like
Martin Luther King Jr. gave speeches and
people everywhere protested and boycotted.
This work and fight for change was called the
Civil Rights Movement.
Why do you think Thurgood Marshall was
given the nickname Mr. Civil Rights?
In 1954, all nine Supreme Court Justices
agreed that Mr. Brown and Thurgood Marshall
were right. “Separate but equal” was unfair and
it had to end. Segregation in public schools
would now be against the law.
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