Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993) was an American lawyer and jurist who became the first African American Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he trained in law at Howard University and built a national reputation as a civil-rights advocate with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Marshall argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including *Brown v. Board of Education* (1954), which struck down racial segregation in public schools. He later served as U.S. Solicitor General and, in 1967, was appointed to the Supreme Court, where he served until 1991. His opinions often emphasized equality and individual rights.