Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland,
in 1908. He attended public schools in Baltimore and graduated
from Lincoln University in Baltimore in 1930 where he obtained
his Bachelor Degree. In 1933, he graduated at the head of his
class from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C.
In 1934, while in private law practice, he became counsel for the Baltimore City
branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
He later joined the NAACP national legal staff and in 1938 was appointed its
chief legal officer. Among his most significant victories was the Supreme Court's
1954 decision which declared segregation of public schools illegal.
Judge Marshall became Solicitor General of the United States in 1956, and Supreme
Court Justice of the United States in 1967. Both before and after this appointment,
Judge Marshall served his country and fellow men in a variety of ways and received
numerous honors for his outstanding work.
