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The United States of America had never been a perfect place. We 

have made many mistakes over the years, participate din wars 

whether they were with other countries, or even on our home turf. 

We have treated people unfairly, and divided the country due to 

our races. But is a country ever perfect?

What makes our country so great is the people that live there. 

Americans are resilient people. We go through tough times, yet he 

have a will like steel. We band together when needed, and 

somehow pull through. 

One American in particular, one who stands out to me, is who thus 

book is on. You will learn about the many things he has done for 

our country, and how he made America the country we are today.

Thurgood Marshall was raised in Baltimore, which was a city where 

blacks could vote and public transportation was not segregated.  

But after receiving his A.B. at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania 

(1930) , Marshall applied for admission into the   University of 

Maryland Law School and was rejected because of his race.

After graduation, Marshall opened a law office in Baltimore and 

represented the local NAACP chapter in a successful lawsuit that 

challenged the University of Maryland Law School over its segregation 

policy. He also successfully brought lawsuits that integrated other 

state universities. In 1936, Marshall became the NAACP’s chief legal 

counsel. The NAACP’s goal was to get equal resources to black 

schools. Marshall successfully challenged the board to only litigate 

cases that would address the segregation.

Thurgood Marshall was a very successful and influential lawyer in his 

time. He was particularly successful with the cases that had to do with 

racial inequality, and segregation. 

Of the 32 cases he defended in the supreme court, he won 29 of 

them. Many of the cases that he argued were big influences on how 

segregation was ended, and how we got equal rights for blacks.  

Murray vs. Pearson

The university of Maryland was sued when they wouldn’t accept 

Donald Gaines Murray (January 24th, 1935) twice because he was 

African American. 

    *Its noted that when Thurgood Marshall heard about the lawyers 

contemplating filing a lawsuit against UM, he could not bear to allow 

another lawyer to take the lead on this case. 

    *Marshall argued the organization's policy of racial segregation was 

unconstitutional and argued in principle that "since the State of 

Maryland had not provided a comparable law school for blacks that 

Murray should be allowed to attend the white university." and stated " 

What's at stake here is more than the rights of my client. It's the 

moral commitment stated in our country's creed."

Chambers vs. Florida

Argued on   January 7th, 1940,   Four black men were accused of 

murdering an elderly white   man name Robert Darcy in Pompano 

Florida. The defendants were based on the false confession   after five 

days of third degree interrogation after they could not get a lawyer. 

Their innocence was proved on Feb 12, 1940 on the argument that 

their interrogation violated their right to due process under the 14th 

amendment.   This case was important because it dealt with the extent 

that police pressure resulting in a criminal defendants confession 

violates the due process clause.

Shelley vs. Kraemer 

The Shelley family bought a house in St. Louis, Missouri. The house 

had a restrictive covenant (This kept negro or Asian races from 

occupying the property)   that had been on it since 1911. Louis 

Kraemer sued to restrain the Shelley's from taking possession of the 

property. 

The court raised two questions: 

1)Are racially-based restrictive covenants legal under the 14th 

amendment

2) Can they be enforced [Going off first question] 

They came to the conclusion that you could not constitutionally 

prevent blacks from buying property's even if the property is covered 

by a racially restrictive covenant.  

Sam vs. Allwright 

Lonnie E. Smith sued election official S.S. Allwright for the right to 

vote in a election being held by the democratic party. He challenged 

the 1923 state law the authorized party to establish its own internal 

rules; they required voters in the primary election to be white. 

The case presented a question: Whether the Texas Democratic Party’s 

policy of prohibiting blacks from voting violated the 14th and 15th 

amendments. The verdict? YES.

"Marshall's most influential case"

For 60 years before the Brown case, the US had been dominated by 

racial segregation. Then, in 1951, a lawsuit was filed against the Board 

of Education of the City of Topeka by 13 Topeka parents on behalf of 

20 of their children. The suit called for the school district to reverse its 

policies of racial segregation (The Topeka Board of Education were 

separate elementary schools under an 1879 Kansas law, which 

suggested (but did not require) districts to maintain separate 

elementary school facilities for black and white students). 

The the court decided that racial segregation in public schools violated 

the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which 

states that "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall ... deny 

to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.". 

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