naacp lawyer who successfully argued against segregation in public schools

by Mr. Don Effertz MD 5 min read

The first general counsel of NAACP, Charles Hamilton Houston exposed the hollowness of the "separate but equal" doctrine and paved the way for the Supreme Court ruling outlawing school segregation.

What happened to the NAACP during the Civil Rights Movement?

At the same time, NAACP members were subject to harassment and violence. In 1962, Medgar Evers, the first NAACP field secretary in Mississippi, was assassinated outside his home in Jackson by a white supremacist.

How did the NAACP challenge the grandfather clause?

The NAACP challenged the law and won a legal victory in 1915 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Guinn v. United States that grandfather clauses were unconstitutional. Also in 1915, the NAACP called for a boycott of Birth of a Nation, a movie that portrayed the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light...

When did Thurgood Marshall establish the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund?

When Did Thurgood Marshall Establish the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund? 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.

What is the NAACP?

The NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established in 1909 and is America’s oldest and largest civil rights organization.

Who led the naacp Court fight against school segregation?

Thurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, served as chief attorney for the plaintiffs. (Thirteen years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson would appoint Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice.)

Who was the famous lawyer that wanted to end the segregation of schools?

When Did Thurgood Marshall Establish the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund? 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.

Which lawyer for the naacp argued that segregation of schools violated the 14th Amendment?

Thurgood MarshallIn his brief to the Warren Court that December, Thurgood Marshall described the separate but equal ruling as erroneous and called for an immediate reversal under the 14th Amendment. He argued that it allowed the government to prohibit any state action based on race, including segregation in public schools.

Who was the lawyer in Brown v. Board of Education?

Thurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall Marshall, who also served as lead counsel in the Brown v. Board of Education case, went on to become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history.

What NAACP attorney successfully argued the case that overturned school segregation and later became the first African American Supreme Court justice?

Thurgood MarshallContents. Thurgood Marshall—perhaps best known as the first African American Supreme Court justice—played an instrumental role in promoting racial equality during the civil rights movement. As a practicing attorney, Marshall argued a record-breaking 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them.

Who is the most famous civil rights lawyer?

William KunstlerBornWilliam Moses KunstlerJuly 7, 1919 New York City, New York, U.S.DiedSeptember 4, 1995 (aged 76) New York City, New York, U.S.EducationYale University (BA) Columbia University (LLB)OccupationLawyer, civil rights activist3 more rows

What was Thurgood Marshall known for?

Thurgood 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.

What was Thurgood Marshall's argument?

When the case went to the Supreme Court, Marshall argued that school segregation was a violation of individual rights under the 14th Amendment. He also asserted that the only justification for continuing to have separate schools was to keep people who were slaves "as near that stage as possible."

What role did Thurgood Marshall play in the case of Brown vs the Board of Education?

Oklahoma Board of Regents of Higher Education (1950). Having won these cases, and thus, establishing precedents for chipping away Jim Crow laws in higher education, Marshall succeeded in having the Supreme Court declare segregated public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

Who were the attorneys for Topeka Board of Education?

At trial, the Scott brothers and Bledsoe were joined by NAACP lawyers Robert Carter and Jack Greenberg. Counsel for the Topeka School Board were also Washburn Law graduates. Lester Goodell '25 served as chief trial counsel with George Brewster '29. Both men were partners in the firm Wheeler, Brewster, Hunt and Goodell.

Did Thurgood Marshall argue Brown v Board?

Marshall won a series of court decisions that gradually struck down that doctrine, ultimately leading to Brown v. Board of Education, which he argued before the Supreme Court in 1952 and 1953, finally overturning “separate but equal” and acknowledging that segregation greatly diminished students' self-esteem.

Who litigated Brown vs Board Education?

Charles Hamilton HoustonCharles Hamilton Houston played an invaluable role in dismantling segregation and mentoring the crop of civil rights lawyers who would ultimately litigate and win Brown v Board of Education. At Howard Law School, he served as Thurgood Marshall's mentor and his eventual employer at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Why was the NAACP criticized?

At the same time, NAACP members were subject to harassment and violence.

What was the NAACP's role in the Civil Rights Movement?

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.

What movie did the NAACP boycott?

Also in 1915, the NAACP called for a boycott of Birth of a Nation, a movie that portrayed the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light and perpetrated racist stereotypes of Black people. The NAACP’s campaign was largely unsuccessful, but it helped raise the new group’s public profile.

Why did the NAACP march in 1917?

In 1917, some 10,000 people in New York City participated in an NAACP-organized silent march to protest lynchings and other violence against Black people. The march was one of the first mass demonstrations in America against racial violence.

How many members does the NAACP have in 2021?

By 2021, the NAACP had more than 2,200 branches and more than half a million members worldwide.

How many branches does the NAACP have?

During the civil rights era in the 1950s and 1960s, the group won major legal victories, and today the NAACP has more than 2,200 branches and some half a million members worldwide.

What issues did the NAACP face?

Today, the NAACP is focused on such issues as inequality in jobs, education, health care and the criminal justice system, as well as protecting voting rights.

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 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.

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 did President Johnson say about Marshall's nomination?

On the appointment, President Johnson later said that Marshall’s nomination was “the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.”.

Early life and education

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 be...
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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 struck down that doctrine, ultimately leading to Brown v. Board of Education , which he argued before t…
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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 serve it. I expect to die at 110, shot by a jealous husba…
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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 state interest of the highest order. To fail to do so is to insure that Ame…
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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 mall was public forum and unable to exclude picketers; Stanley v. …
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