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Thurgood Marshall

by Brett from Hillside

• A man can make what he wants of himself if he truly believes that he must be ready for hard work and many heartbreaks.
thurgood marshall when he is young
thurgood marshall when he is young

I think a hero is a person that has courage and is brave. One of my heroes is Thurgood Marshall. He did some great things for African Americans, like helping to stop slavery and he helped the people of America by fighting in court cases. He was part of the civil rights movement. He was a good man to others. I am about to tell you why he is a hero.

He was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was raised by his father William Marshall. He has a brother's name William Aubrey Marshall. He was the grandson of slaves. He went to Lincoln University in Chester County. Before his graduation, he married his first wife Vivian "Buster" Burey. She died in February 1955.

Thurgood Marshall when he is old
Thurgood Marshall when he is old

During his marriage he went back to school at Howard University Law School. He started to work in Baltimore branch with the NAACP. In 1935 he won his first major civil rights case, the Murray v. Pearson case. In 1940 he won 29 supreme courts cases. He successfully argued Smith v. Allwright, overthrowing the South's "white primary" in 1944. He successfully won Supreme Court victories in two graduate-school integration cases, Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regentsin. He remarried in December 1955 to Cecilia Suyat. They had two children named Thurgood Marshall, Jr and John W. Marshall. They were together until his death. In 1961 he was appointed circuit judge, made 112 rulings, all of them later upheld by Supreme Court (1961-1965). In 1967, he became the first African American to be on the Supreme Court. He was on there for 34 years. He retired from the Supreme Court in 1991. He died at the age of 84 in 1993.

He got many honors and awards. He became the Chief of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP. He became the first African American to be on the Supreme Court. He was a part of the civil right moment. One of his quotes was, "A man can make what he wants of himself if he truly believes that he must be ready for hard work and many heartbreaks."

I think that a hero is someone who fights for their rights. Thurgood Marshall improved the world for all people. He made the world better for African Americans. He saved the people of the USA and for generations to come. He helped fight slavery in America and he fought for the people's rights. He was the first to be an African American to be on the Supreme Court. This is why he is one of my heroes.

Page created on 11/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 11/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.