Thurgood Marshall

After the Reconstruction period, African Americans had won freedom and no longer were seen as processions of the whiteman, although, something even more evil existed, segregation. This problem made life for many black people an ever-continuing struggle. Black people were forced to attend separate schools, churches, hotels, and even restaurants. At the time, white males dominated the work force and many African Americans rarely found well paying jobs. The court system judged people of color more harshly than people of white skin, which led to unfair sentences and lynchings. A lynching is when a person is hanged or executed without a trial; they were very common during this time period. African Americans could only take so much of this, they cried out against the unequal ways that white people practiced. Foundations were formed to aid these people and bring justice to the society they were living in. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was probably the most significant of these foundations. This was the same organization that Thurgood Marshall became the leading lawyer of. Thurgood Marshall was born in the year of 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was prepped and raised by his mother, Norma Arica Marshall, and his father, William Canfield Marshall. Thurgood's mother was one of the first African Americans to graduate from Colombia University and his father was the first black person to serve on Baltimore's grand jury in the 20th century. Their accomplishments influenced young Thurgood in the years yet to come. Thurgood was always top of his game and graduating from an all black high school in Baltimore at 16 and graduating from Howard Law School in Washington D.C. first of his class, proved it. During his time at Howard, Thurgood met and eventually married his first wife, Vivian Burey. After finishing up law school in 1933, Thurgood moved to New York City, where he was later recruited as a staff lawyer to NAACP. During his years spent