Known in history for fighting for civil rights and having a legal mind that was out of this
world. Stay tuned for more as we share interesting facts from the biography of the
first African American Supreme Court Justice in the United States, Thurgood Marshall.
Beginning with our first fact, with the life of Thurgood Marshall, it began on July 2, 1908,
in Baltimore, Maryland. Breaking out with Fact number two, although we know him as
Thurgood that was not his name at birth. His mother and father named him Thorough Good.
Thurgood would later change his name in the second grade to what we know today as Thurgood Marshall.
Making history as one of the greatest legal minds we know his inspiration came early in life from
his father. That is because his father would take him as a young boy to watch legal arguments
at local courts making Thurgood want to be a part of helping others in the judicial system.
With Fact number three, it's all about higher education. After being rejected from
the University of Maryland law school, Thurgood would go on to graduate with honors from Lincoln
University in 1930. With his bachelor's degree when talking about college, it wasn't always easy.
But thank goodness for fighting mothers. The reason I say that his during his time at
Lincoln University. Although Marshall's family struggled to afford paying tuition, his mother
would talk frequently with the university to work out late payments to keep her son in school. From
there with Fact number five, he would go on to earn his law degree from Howard University,
which is known as one of the top Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Building his
legal career and making its mark on the Civil Rights movement. Marshall began working for
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also known as the NAACP in 1934.
With Fact number seven fighting for civil rights was very dangerous. For example, in 1946,
after traveling to Columbia, Tennessee, to defend a group of African American men,
Marshall was arrested on false charges and taken off road by a local sheriff's car. Thankfully,
his colleagues were there to help him get out of a sticky situation. With Fact number eight, Thurgood
Marshall would be recognized by one of the most powerful men on the planet, john F. Kennedy. After
a bit of a rocky start with the Kennedys Marshall was nominated to serve on the US Court of Appeals,
with the senate confirming him a year later with the objections of many Southern Senators.
This will lead to President Johnson later wanting to nominate Marshall to the Supreme
Court. Some say Johnson did this creatively by nominating then Justice Tom Clark son
to be Attorney General making it a conflict of interest for his son to be Attorney General
while Justice Clark sat on the bench. With our 10th and final fact, Marshall would go through
an intense Senate confirmation hearing like most supreme court justices. It would end with
Marshall sworn in as the first African American Supreme Court Justice on October 2 in 1967.
The life of Thurgood Marshall would come to an end on January 24, in 1993,
and although he is gone, he will not be forgotten for his work in the judicial system and helping
the fight as a Cvil Rights Activist. So those were just 10 interesting facts about the life
of Thurgood Marshall. And for more interesting videos like this, here are a couple to help you
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