Thurgood Marshall Research Paper

On July 2, 1908 Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was Norma Williams and William Marshall’s second child (“Thurgood Marshall”, 2015). His mother was an elementary school teacher who taught him the importance of an education. She encouraged Thurgood and his brother to learn and think for themselves. His father was a waiter at a whites-only country club who would frequently visit the courthouse on his way home and listen to local cases (“Thurgood Marshall”, 2015). William would then rehash the court cases with the family over dinner resulting in an abundance of nightly debates that would spark Thurgood’s interest in politics (“Thurgood Marshall”, 2015). Thurgood’s name is a variation of his great- grandfather’s name. …show more content…
He worked a number of odd jobs to pay his tuition and was briefly suspended for his typical mischievous behavior in his second year (“Thurgood Marshall Biography”, 2015). After his brief suspension he took his studies seriously and graduated with honors in 1930 (“Thurgood Marshall”, 2015). Subsequently Marshall applied to the University of Maryland Law School. In spite of being overqualified academically, Marshall was denied due to his race (“Thurgood Marshall”, 2015). Experiencing educational discrimination such as this made a lasting impression on Marshall and guided the course of his career. Since Marshall could not attend Maryland, he attended law school in another historically black school, Howard University (“Thurgood Marshall”, 2015). The dean of Howard University was the pioneering civil rights lawyer Charles Houston. Marshall’s experience with discrimination in education and influence of Charles Houston made a lasting impression on Marshall and helped determine the future course of his career. Marshall graduated magna cum laude from Howard in 1933 (“Thurgood Marshall”, …show more content…
Just 3 years later he became the director of the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund (“Thurgood Marshall Biography”, 2014). Prior to Marshall joining the NAACP the organization was focused on achieving truly similar schools for African Americans under the idea of separate but equal. Marshall used the campaign of Legal Defense and Education Fund to instead enroll African American students in the same schools and classes as the Caucasian students (“Thurgood Marshall Biography”, 2014). Initially Marshall was the only member of this campaign, but as the fund grew in success and popularity he was able to spend more time in the court room defending a plaintiff versus looking for one on the