Thurgood Marshall Facts – Contribution on Human Rights

Thurgood Marshall will always be an important name in the talks of civil rights. This is not surprising knowing how great and remarkable his achievements were. He died on January 24, 1993. Despite this though, he was celebrated all the time. There were just so many Thurgood Marshall Facts that have to be learned. What are these?

On July 2, 1908, Marshall was given birth. This happened in Baltimore, Maryland. His earlier years were very much affected to the fact that his great-grandfather was from Africa. This occurred in the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was then brought as a slave to America.

Despite the aforementioned, Marshall finished his studies with flying colors. As a matter of fact, he graduated top of his class in his high school. Afterwards, he studied at the Lincoln University to pursue his dreams of becoming a dentist.

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It may be fascinating to know that Marshall was named Thoroughgood. However, he had to shorten it when he was in second grade because he had a hard time spelling it.

There was a time when he experienced suspension because of pranking and hazing against that of other students. He attended the university together with other students such as Cab Calloway and Langston Hughes. The same was also true with the president of Ghana. None of these people became a victim of the antics of Marshall. Ever since, he was dubbed as rough, wrong, loud and ready.

Marshall only became serious when he met the woman who would suddenly become a significant part of his life. The person turned out to be his wife. She was Vivian Burey. She was once a student in Lincoln. They got married even if they were still in college.

Who would have thought that after all of the experiences Marshall had gone through, he would then graduate with honors? This still happened though however, in contrary to his degree in dentistry. He instead earned his bachelor’s degree literature and philosophy.

When it comes to pursuing law school, he really wanted to be a part of the University of Maryland. However, he did not apply since there was still a policy in segregation during those times. He persevered in Howard University and eventually became top again.

The moment he became a lawyer, his victory was first realized in Murray V. Pearson. He had this against University of Maryland. Quite ironic, right? The segregation policy was challenged during this time. This opened wide doors for equal education. This was intended for most Maryland students.

The moment he went out from law school, he was assigned as legal counsel of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People. After a few number of years, Marshall turned out to be the chief counsel of the said organization.

He was only 32 years old when he triumphed over his very first case in the U.S Supreme Court. This was in Chamber v. Florida which was able to establish confessions derived as an aftermath of police coercion. This was not taken as an evidence though.

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