Thurgood Marshall
Iconic Graduates
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice
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Field of Study
Juris Doctorate
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Year Graduated
1933
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Affiliation
Alumni
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Hometown
Baltimore, Maryland
Quote
“Truth is more than a mental exercise.”Biography
Thurgood Marshall sought admission into Howard University Law School following his denial of admission on the basis of his race into University of Maryland Law School. Unbeknownst to him, this decision directed his professional career where he championed for equal rights - particularly on the basis of race. The dean of Howard law, Charles Hamilton Houston, became his mentor and instilled in him the passion to advocate for the oppressed and voiceless. Marshall's first major court case came in 1933 when he successfully sued the University of Maryland to admit a young African American Amherst University graduate named Donald Gaines Murray. He later became the chief counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where he fought for racial equality by taking on challenging cases to end state-sponsored discrimination like Brown v. Board of Education. This landmark case ended the legal basis for segregation in the U.S.In 1965, Marshall was appointed U.S. solicitor general by President Lyndon B. Johnson. He went on to win 14 of the 19 cases that he argued before the Supreme Court for the government. In 1967, he became the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court where he served until his retirement until 1991.