during the 1940s and 1950s who was the head lawyer for the naacp legal defense fund

by Danny Tromp 7 min read

Thurgood Marshall was an influential leader of the civil rights movement whose tremendous legacy lives on in the pursuit of racial justice. Marshall founded LDF in 1940 and served as its first Director-Counsel.

Who is the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund?

^ "Sherrilyn Ifill named head of NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund – theGrio". theGrio. 2001-11-30. Retrieved 2018-11-13. ^ "History | NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund". NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Retrieved 2018-11-13.

What did the NAACP do in the 1950s?

By 1919, the NAACP had some 90,000 members and more than 300 branches. The NAACP played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. One of the organization’s key victories was the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed segregation in public schools.

When did the NAACP start its own LDF?

But increasing pressure from the Internal Revenue System (IRS) in the 1930s forced the NAACP to establish the separate LDF in 1940. It operates independently today as part of an ongoing struggle against racism in the United States.

Why did the NAACP Sue LDF?

At times, this separation has created considerable confusion in the eyes and minds of the public. In the 1980s, the NAACP unsuccessfully sued LDF for trademark infringement. In its ruling rejecting the NAACP’s lawsuit, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D. C.

Who was the naacp lawyer during the 1950s?

Thurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall was a civil rights lawyer who used the courts to fight Jim Crow and dismantle segregation in the U.S. Marshall was a towering figure who became the nation's first Black United States Supreme Court Justice. He is best known for arguing the historic 1954 Brown v.

Who was the head attorney for the naacp Legal Defense Fund?

Sherrilyn Ifill (born December 17, 1962) is an American lawyer. She is a law professor and president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund....Sherrilyn IfillEducationVassar College (BA) New York University (JD) Hillcrest High School5 more rows

Who founded the Legal Defense Fund in 1940?

Thurgood MarshallAlthough LDF can trace its origins to the legal department of the NAACP created by Charles Hamilton Houston in the 1930s, Thurgood Marshall founded LDF as a separate legal entity in 1940 and LDF became totally independent from the NAACP in 1957....NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.AbbreviationLDFFormationFebruary 12, 1940TypeNon-profit organization6 more rows

Who was one of the leaders of the legal defense fund?

Founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who subsequently became the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, LDF was launched at a time when the nation's aspirations for equality and due process of law were stifled by widespread state-sponsored racial inequality.

Who is the head of the NAACP?

Derrick Johnson (Oct 21, 2017–)NAACP / CEODerrick Johnson is an American lawyer and humanitarian. He serves as the 19th President and CEO of the NAACP. He had previously served as president of its Mississippi state chapter, and vice chairman of its board of directors. Wikipedia

Who was the chief lawyer who argued the Brown case?

John Scott was a Topeka, KS, based lawyer who initially began the Brown case on behalf of Oliver Brown and the other litigants. Chief Justice Earl Warren, who was born in 1891, secured a unanimous decision in Brown v.

Who nominated Thurgood Marshall?

Lyndon B. JohnsonThurgood Marshall / AppointerLyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963 under President John F. Kennedy. Wikipedia

Was Thurgood Marshall White?

Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the U.S. Supreme Court's first African American justice.

What is LDF Thurgood Marshall?

The Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multidisciplinary center within the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Launched in 2015, the Institute complements LDF's traditional litigation strengths and brings critical capabilities to the fight for racial justice, including research and targeted advocacy campaigns.

Which individual led the NAACP legal defense team in Virginia?

Thurgood Marshall was a member of the NAACP legal defense team in the Brown v. Board of Education case. He later became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Led the NAACP Legal Defense team in Virginia in the Brown vs.

Which individual led the NAACP legal defense team in the Brown v Board of Education case?

June 1951: Brown v. Robert Carter led the NAACP legal team into trial. Significance: In August, a three-judge panel at the U.S. District Court unanimously held in the Brown v. Board of Education case that "no willful, intentional or substantial discrimination" existed in Topeka's schools.

Which person served on the defense team for the NAACP?

Thurgood Marshall and other members of the N.A.A.C.P. legal defense team who worked on the Brown v. Board of Education case - NYPL Digital Collections.

What was the NAACP's goal in 1936?

In 1936, Marshall became the NAACP’s chief legal counsel. The NAACP’s initial goal was to funnel equal resources to black schools. Marshall successfully challenged the board to only litigate cases that would address the heart of segregation.

Who was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court?

Marshall founded LDF in 1940 and served as its first Director-Counsel. He was the architect of the legal strategy that ended the country’s official policy of segregation and was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court. He served as Associate Justice from 1967-1991 after being nominated by President Johnson.

What did Marshall do to ensure that America would forever remain a divided society?

To fail to do so is to ensure that America will forever remain a divided society.”. In particular, Marshall fervently dissented in cases in which the Supreme Court upheld death sentences; he wrote over 150 opinions dissenting from cases in which the Court refused to hear death penalty appeals.

What did Marshall do after he graduated?

Immediately after graduation, Marshall opened a law office in Baltimore , and in the early 1930s, he represented the local NAACP chapter in a successful lawsuit that challenged the University of Maryland Law School over its segregation policy. In addition, he successfully brought lawsuits that integrated other state universities.

What did Marshall say about segregation?

Board of Education, which he argued before the Supreme Court in 1952 and 1953, finally overturning “separate but equal” and acknowledging that segrega tion greatly diminished students’ self-esteem.

What was the Supreme Court opinion in Marshall v. Logan Valley Plaza?

Among Marshall’s salient majority opinions for the Supreme Court were: Amalgamated Food Employees Union v. Logan Valley Plaza, in 1968, which determined that a mall was “public forum” and unable to exclude picketers; Stanley v. Georgia, in 1969, held that pornography, when owned privately, could not be prosecuted.

When did Thurgood Marshall retire?

He served as Associate Justice from 1967-1991 after being nominated by President Johnson. Marshall retired from the bench in 1991 and passed away on January 24, 1993, in Washington D.C. at the age of 84. Civil rights and social change came about through meticulous and persistent litigation efforts, at the forefront of which stood Thurgood Marshall ...

What is the NAACP LDF?

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, In c. ( NAACP LDF or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City .

What was the case in 1940 that overturned the convictions of four young black defendants accused of murdering an elderly

1940: Chambers v. Florida, overturned the convictions—based on coerced confessions —of four young black defendants accused of murdering an elderly white man.

What is LDF organization?

While primarily focused on the civil rights of African Americans in the U.S., LDF states it has "been instrumental in the formation of similar organizations that have replicated its organizational model in order to promote equality for Asian-Americans, Latinos, and women in the United States.".

What is LDF in the United States?

While primarily focused on the civil rights of African Americans in the U.S., LDF states it has "been instrumental in the formation of similar organizations that have replicated its organizational model in order to promote equality for Asian-Americans, Latinos, and women in the United States.". LDF has also been involved in "the campaign ...

What was the most famous case in the history of LDF?

Probably the most famous case in the history of LDF was Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case in 1954 in which the United States Supreme Court explicitly outlawed de jure racial segregation of public education facilities. During the civil rights protests of the 1960s, LDF represented "the legal arm of the civil rights movement" and provided counsel for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., among others.

Why was Rideau v. Whitley thrown out?

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit threw out the 28-year-old, third conviction of Wilbert Rideau for murder because of discrimination in the composition of the Grand Jury that originally indicted him more than 40 years earlier. (Rideau was retried, convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter, and released in 2005.)

What was the legality of Cromartie v Hunt?

2000: Cromartie v. Hunt and Daly v. Hunt, ruled that it is legal to create, for partisan political reasons, a district with a high concentration of minority voters; hence the North Carolina district from which Mel Watt was elected to the House of Representatives was ruled not to be an illegal gerrymander.

Who was the leader of the NAACP in 1930?

White presided over the NAACP's most productive period of legal advocacy. In 1930 the association commissioned the Margold Report, which became the basis for the successful reversal of the separate-but-equal doctrine that had governed public facilities since Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

What is the NAACP?

The NAACP works to remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes. The national office was established in New York City in 1910 as well as a board of directors and president, Moorfield Storey, a white constitutional lawyer and former president of the American Bar Association.

What is the NAACP movement?

While much of NAACP history is chronicled in books, articles, pamphlets, and magazines, the true movement lies in the faces of the multiracial, multigenerational army of ordinary people who united to awaken the consciousness of a people and a nation.

What is the NAACP's real story?

The real story of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization lies in the hearts and minds of all those who refused to stand idly while race prejudice tarnished our nation. From bold investigations of mob brutality and protests of mass murders to testimony before congressional committees on the vicious tactics used to bar African Americans from the ballot box, it was the talent and tenacity of NAACP members that saved lives and laid the foundation upon which our fight for racial justice and equity is built.

What was the NAACP's mission?

Accordingly, the NAACP's mission is to ensure the political, educational, equality of minority group citizens of States and eliminate race prejudice. The NAACP works to remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes.

How many African Americans cast ballots in 2000?

NAACP leaders and activists entered the 21st century reinvigorated and, in 2000, launched a massive get-out-the-vote campaign. As a result, 1 million more African Americans cast their ballots in the 2000 presidential election than in 1996.

What was the final tipping point for the NAACP?

In 1908, a deadly race riot rocked the city of Springfield, eruptions of anti-black violence – particularly lynching – were horrifically commonplace, but the Springfield riot was the final tipping point that led to the creation of the NAACP. Appalled at this rampant violence, a group of white liberals that included Mary White Ovington ...

What is the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund?

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) is the country’s first and foremost civil and human rights law firm. Founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who subsequently became the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, LDF was launched at a time when the nation’s aspirations for equality and due process ...

What did LDF fight for?

LDF has also consistently fought to eliminate barriers to full political participation by all Americans in our nation’s democratic processes. In 1943, Thurgood Marshall successfully persuaded the Supreme Court to rule in Smith v. Allwright that Texas’s refusal to allow African-Americans to vote in the Democratic primary election violated the 15th Amendment. In 1965, LDF litigated to ensure against disruptions of Dr. King’s voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama shortly after the notorious “Bloody Sunday” episode, when marchers were beaten by policemen as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge. These events galvanized passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of our nation’s core federal civil rights statutes, which LDF and other advocates have repeatedly used to safeguard citizens’ voting rights and ensure more inclusive democratic governance.

What has LDF challenged?

LDF has challenged inadequa te legal representation, discriminatory jury selection, capital punishment, and criminal statut es and harsh sentencing that disproportionately impact African-Americans and conspire to ensure the incarceration of large numbers of Blacks in prison.

What is LDF's most important victory?

One of LDF’s most important triumphs was the Supreme Court’s unanimous 1971 decision in Griggs v. Duke Power Company . Griggs literally transformed our nation’s work places by embracing a powerful tool – now known as the “disparate impact” framework – that has helped to eradicate arbitrary and artificial barriers to equal employment opportunity for all individuals, regardless of their race. In Griggs and hundreds of other class-action suits against employers, unions, and government at all levels, LDF has helped secure jobs and employment rights for tens of thousands of citizens confronted by unfair employment practices. LDF has also won many important challenges to housing discrimination, beginning with Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) where the Supreme Court barred enforcement of racially discriminatory restrictions on real estate transfers.

What is LDF law?

On par with LDF’s achievements in the courtroom and on Capitol Hill, LDF is the preeminent constitutional training ground for lawyers committed to racial justice and equal opportunity. LDF alumni have gone on to prominent positions in public service, and include a Supreme Court Justice, an Attorney General, the second African-American Governor since Reconstruction, members of Congress, Solicitors General, numerous judges, high-ranking members of the Justice Department, key presidential advisors, leading academics, founders and leaders of prominent non-profits, and foundation, corporate, and philanthropic executives. Among our former cooperating attorneys is President Barack Obama. Additionally, through its scholarship and fellowship programs, LDF has helped over 4,000 exceptional students to graduate from many of the nation’s best colleges, universities, and law schools.

What act was passed in 1965?

These events galvanized passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of our nation’s core federal civil rights statutes, which LDF and other advocates have repeatedly used to safeguard citizens’ voting rights and ensure more inclusive democratic governance.

What is the LDF?

As the legal arm of the civil rights movement, LDF has a tradition of expert legal advocacy in the Supreme Court and other courts across the nation. LDF’s victories established the foundations for the civil rights that all Americans enjoy today. In its first two decades, LDF undertook a coordinated legal assault against officially enforced public ...

Early life and education

Image
Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland to William Marshall, railroad porter, who later worked on the staff of Gibson Island Club, a white-only country club and Norma Williams, a school teacher. One of his great-grandfathers had been taken as a slave from the Congo to Maryland where he was eventually fr…
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Early career

  • Immediately after graduation, Marshall opened a law office in Baltimore and in the early 1930s, he represented the local NAACP chapter in a successful lawsuit that challenged the University of Maryland Law School over its segregation policy. In addition, he successfully brought lawsuits that integrated other state universities. In 1936, Marshall became the NAACPs chief legal couns…
See more on naacpldf.org

Significance

  • After founding the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1940, Marshall became the key strategist in the effort to end racial segregation, in particular meticulously challenging Plessy v. Ferguson , the Court-sanctioned legal doctrine that called for separate but equal structures for white and blacks. Marshall won a series of court decisions that gradually s...
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Leadership

  • In 1957 LDF, led by Marshall, became an entirely separate entity from the NAACP with its own leadership and board of directors and has remained a separate organization to this day.
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Later career

  • In 1961, President Kennedy nominated Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in which he wrote 112 opinions, none of which was overturned on appeal. Four years later, he was appointed by President Johnson to be solicitor general and in 1967 President Johnson nominated him to the Supreme Court to which he commented: I have a lifetime appointment and I intend to …
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Criticisms

  • As a Supreme Court Justice, he became increasingly dismayed and disappointed as the courts majority retreated from remedies he felt were necessary to address remnants of Jim Crow. In his Bakke dissent, he wrote: In light of the sorry history of discrimination and its devastating impact on the lives of Negroes, bringing the Negro into the mainstream of American life should be a sta…
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Legacy

  • In particular, Marshall fervently dissented in cases in which the Supreme Court upheld death sentences; he wrote over 150 opinions dissenting from cases in which the Court refused to hear death penalty appeals. Among Marshalls salient majority opinions for the Supreme Court were: Amalgamated Food Employees Union v. Logan Valley Plaza, in 1968, which determined that a m…
See more on naacpldf.org

About

  • While primarily focused on the civil rights of African Americansin the U.S., LDF states it has "been instrumental in the formation of similar organizations that have replicated its organizational model in order to promote equality for Asian-Americans, Latinos, and women in the United States." LDF has also been involved in "the campaign for human ri...
See more on en.wikipedia.org

Creation and Separation from The NAACP

  • The board of directors of the NAACP created the Legal Defense Fund in 1940 specifically for tax purposes. In 1957, LDF was completely separated from the NAACP and given its own independent board and staff.Although LDF was originally meant to operate in accordance with NAACP policy, after 1961, serious disputes emerged between the two organizations. These disputes ultimately …
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Well-Known Cases

  • Probably the most famous case in the history of LDF was Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case in 1954 in which the United States Supreme Court explicitly outlawed de jure racial segregation of public education facilities. During the civil rights protests of the 1960s, LDF represented "the legal arm of the civil rights movement" and provided counsel for Dr. Martin Luth…
See more on en.wikipedia.org

Prominent LDF Alumni

  • A number of prominent attorneys have been affiliated with LDF over the years, including Barack Obama who was an LDF cooperating attorney.The following, non-exhaustive list of LDF alumni demonstrates the breadth of positions these attorneys have held or currently hold in public service, the government, academia, the private sector, and other areas. 1. Debo Adegbile, forme…
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Further Reading

  1. Greenberg, Jack. "Crusaders in the Courts: Legal Battles of the Civil Rights Movement" (2004)
  2. Hooks, Benjamin L. "Birth and Separation of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund," Crisis1979 86(6): 218–220. 0011–1422
  3. King, Gilbert "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America" (2012)
  1. Greenberg, Jack. "Crusaders in the Courts: Legal Battles of the Civil Rights Movement" (2004)
  2. Hooks, Benjamin L. "Birth and Separation of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund," Crisis1979 86(6): 218–220. 0011–1422
  3. King, Gilbert "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America" (2012)
  4. Mosnier, L. Joseph. Crafting Law in the Second Reconstruction: Julius Chambers, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Title VII.(2005).

External Links