Thurgood Marshall 1908-1993
By:LaKedric Carter Wash
Thurgood Marshall was the first black person to become a judge on the Supreme
Court. His famous words were, "Equal means getting the same thing at the
same time and at the same place." He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He
worked with the NAACP as a lawyer trying to get integration into segregated
public schools. Segregated public schools are schools that do not have
black people in them.
He worked on the case of Brown vs. Board of Education. This was a case
about integration in public schools. His work on this case helped put black
people into public schools.
Brown vs Board of Education
In 1954, the case of Brown vs Board of Education said that black people
could go to segregated public schools. Linda Brown's parents and others
went to the NAACP and asked for help so she and other black children could
go to the segregated schools. The NAACP decided that Brown was right and
that Marshall should work on the case. Marshall said in court, "Equal means
getting the same thing at the same time and at the same place." The Supreme
Cort said that black people could go to public schools. As time passed
Brown, Marshall, and many others won integrated public schools.