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Birthdate: July 2, 1908
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland

Through Thurgood Marshall's brilliant mind and articulate manner, the face of America has been changed for all of its citizens. Always a defender of the oppressed, Marshall dedicated his life to seeing that the benefits of the American way of life were available to all.

Thurgood Marshall's beginnings were modest. The son of a dining room steward and a schoolteacher, he attended public schools in Baltimore, Maryland. Then, he enrolled at and graduated from Lincoln University. Following this, he entered Howard University Law School. He graduated from Howard with honors at the age of twenty-five.

Marshall began his legal career in his native Baltimore, where he championed the cause of the poor and the weak. When his skill as a lawyer became known, the NAACP asked him to join its staff. Marshall server the cause of justice with the NAACP with such success that he won thirty-two of the thirty-five cases that he presented before the Supreme Court.

Thurgood Marshall entered public service in 1961 as a member of the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1965, he was appointed to be the solicitor general, or the "government's lawyer," He was the first black to serve in this position. Then, in 1967, he was appointed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, the first black to serve on the highest court in the United States.

Justice Marshall's performance in the Supreme Court earned him the respect of his fellow justices. Through his objective arguments and decisions, he has paved the way for much of the progress made in civil rights over the past two decades. His dedication to the defense of the United States Constitution has led to the extension of rights to all Americans.

FLASH-FACTS

Served as the chief NAACP lawyer on civil rights cases
Was appointed as solicitor general of the United States
Became the first black member of the Supreme Court