Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall and Brown v. Board of Education

​Thurgood Marshall a leader in the Civil Rights Movement

Thurgood Marshall studied law at Howard University. He was a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP fought discrimination in the courts by providing legal teams to defend cases of discrimination.

Brown v. Board of Education

Topeka, Kansas

In the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, the court unanimously ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. This historic decision overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, which had allowed racial segregation in public facilities. The Brown v. Board of Education ruling declared that segregated schools were inherently unequal and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Brown v. Board of Education

Topeka, Kansas

The children of black parents in Topeka, Kansas, were forced to attend all-black segregated schools. This was one of the most important cases of the 20th century because it ended the rule of "separate but equal" established by the 1896 Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson.

The NAACP with Marshall as the lawyer fought to end segregation in this case.

Brown v. Board of Education

Topeka, Kansas

The Brown case was the result of a long legal battle led by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) against the "separate but equal" doctrine. The plaintiffs, a group of African American parents, argued that segregated schools deprived Black children of equal educational opportunities. The Supreme Court agreed, finding that segregated schools generated a feeling of inferiority among Black children that undermined their motivation to learn.

Brown v. Board of Education

Topeka, Kansas

The Brown decision was a major victory for the civil rights movement, as it set the stage for the desegregation of schools across the United States. However, the implementation of the ruling faced significant resistance, especially in the South, where many states refused to comply. It would take years of continued legal battles and federal intervention before meaningful school integration was achieved.

Brown v. Board of Education

Topeka, Kansas

The Brown v. Board of Education case was a pivotal moment in the struggle for racial equality in America. By rejecting the doctrine of "separate but equal," the Supreme Court affirmed the fundamental principle that all citizens, regardless of race, are entitled to equal protection under the law..

​Thurgood Marshall a leader in the Civil Rights Movement

He worked for equality for African-Americans. In 1954, he won the Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ended racial segregation in public schools.

​Thurgood Marshall a leader in the Civil Rights Movement

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy made Marshall a judge for the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Over the next four years, Marshall had more than 100 cases and none of his decisions was changed by the Supreme Court.

​Thurgood Marshall a leader in the Civil Rights Movement

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Marshall the first black U.S. solicitor general. He was now the country's lawyer at the Supreme Court.

​Thurgood Marshall a leader in the Civil Rights Movement

Finally, in 1967, President Johnson chose Marshall to serve as a justice on the United States Supreme Court. On October 2, 1967, Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, becoming the first African-American to take a position on the nation's highest court.

Marshall served for 24 years on the court.

Multiple Choice

Which Civil Rights organization fought discrimination in the courts by providing legal teams to defend cases of discrimination?  One example was the famous Supreme Court case, Brown v Board of Education, Topeka Kansas 1954.

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

• Freedom Riders

• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Multiple Choice

Which Supreme Court case banned segregation in public schools and stated that schools must integrate with "all deliberate speed?"

• Plessy v Ferguson

• Brown v Board of Education (1954)

Drag and Drop

​

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was a lawyer for the ​

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who won an appeal to the Supreme Court to desegregate public schools in ​

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case and was the first African American justice on the ​

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Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP

Brown v. Board of Education

US Supreme Court

Multiple Choice

What was the key principle established in the Plessy v. Ferguson case?

• Racial segregation in public facilities was unconstitutional.
  

• Separate but equal public facilities were constitutional.

• The 14th Amendment required integration of public schools

• The federal government had the authority to desegregate public schools.