Thurgood Marshall's Supreme Legacy

Thurgood Marshall: From Courtroom Advocate to Supreme Court Justice

On October 2, 1967, Thoroughgood “Thurgood” Marshall was sworn in as the first Black Justice of the United States Supreme Court. His path to the Supreme Court started at Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., where he attended after being denied admission to Maryland School of Law because of his race.1 Charles Hamilton Houston was Marshall's mentor, and the two believed in using the law to fight against oppression.

By 1938, Marshall was serving as chief counsel for the NAACP. Most notably, Marshall argued and won 29 of the 32 cases he presented before the U.S. Supreme Court. His most famous victory came in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), where the Court unanimously ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. This decision was an important one in tackling legalized segregation, overturning the “separate but equal” doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Outside of education, Marshall also challenged racial discrimination in housing, voting, and criminal justice. His legal advocacy provided the foundation for much of the Civil Rights Movement’s progress in the 1950s and 1960s. 

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Four years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson named him Solicitor General of the United States, making him the first African American to hold that position. Marshall argued cases on behalf of the federal government with the same effectiveness he had shown in civil rights litigation, winning 14 of the 19 cases he argued.

When Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1967, the Senate confirmation hearings held both admiration and resistance. Supporters lauded his brilliant legal mind and his decades of service to justice, while opponents tried to portray him as too radical. Ultimately, the Senate confirmed him by a vote of 69 to 11, and Marshall took his seat on October 2.

As a Justice, Marshall was a consistent voice for the marginalized. He advocated for individual rights, opposed the death penalty, and defended affirmative action programs designed to correct systemic inequities. He often reminded his colleagues and the nation that the Constitution must be interpreted in a way that protected the vulnerable and gave meaning to the promise of equal justice under law.

Marshall retired from the Court in 1991, citing poor health, and passed away in 1993. His life’s work left a legacy that cannot be overstated: he transformed American law and forced the nation to confront its contradictions. On the anniversary of his swearing-in, we honor not only the “firsts” he achieved but also the enduring impact of his fight for justice—a reminder that we continue his legacy, and we continue his fight.

1  “Thurgood Marshall,” NAACP, accessed October 1, 2025, https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/thurgood-marshall.