who was the head lawyer for the naacp legal defense fund in 1948

by Teresa Bernhard 4 min read

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.

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

Nov 19, 2021 · November 19, 2021. 0. Getty. *Prominent civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill is stepping down as the head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund next spring. Ifil, who made Time’s annual 100 Most ...

What did Thurgood Marshall do for the NAACP?

Soon after, Marshall joined Houston at NAACP as a staff lawyer. In 1940, he was named chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which was created to mount a legal assault against segregation. Marshall became one of the nation's leading attorneys. He argued 32 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning 29.

Is LDF part of the NAACP?

She serves on the boards of the Learning Policy Institute, the NYU Law School of Trustees, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Profiles in Courage Advisory Board. Sherrilyn Ifill served as the seventh President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) from 2013 to 2022, and currently serves as President and Director-Counsel ...

Why did the NAACP Sue LDF?

19.During the late 1940s and 1950s, _____ was the head lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. a. John Marshall d. W. E. B. Du Bois b. Thurgood Marshall e. Felix Frankfurter c. James Byrnes ANS: B DIF: Medium REF: The Struggle for Civil Rights

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Who led the legal defense fund?

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 the head attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund?

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 was the lawyer in Brown v Board?

Thurgood MarshallBoard of Education Re-enactment. As a lawyer and judge, Thurgood Marshall strived to protect the rights of all citizens.

Who was the head of the legal defense team in Virginia for the NAACP in Brown v. Board of Education?

Thurgood MarshallBoard of Education of Topeka. 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.)Jan 11, 2022

Who was the first black person on the Supreme Court?

Thurgood MarshallThurgood 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 Court's first African American justice.

Who have served on the NAACP legal defense team?

ldf director-counselsThurgood Marshall 1940-1961.Jack Greenberg 1961-1984.Julius Levonne Chambers 1984-1993.Elaine Jones 1993-2004.Ted Shaw 2004-2008.John Payton 2008-2012.Sherrilyn Ifill 2013-2022.Janai Nelson 2022-Present.

Who was the naacp lawyer who argued Brown?

The NAACP and Thurgood Marshall took up Brown's case along with similar cases in South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware as Brown v. Board of Education. Oliver Brown died in 1961. Born in 1917, Robert Carter, who served as an attorney for the plaintiffs in Briggs v.Jun 8, 2021

Who was the lead lawyer for the naacp in the Brown case?

Thurgood MarshallThe U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, was bundled with four related cases and a decision was rendered on May 17, 1954. Three lawyers, Thurgood Marshall (center), chief counsel for the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund and lead attorney on the Briggs case, with George E. C. Hayes (left) and James M.

Who put Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court?

President JohnsonPresident Johnson nominated Marshall in June 1967 to replace the retiring Justice Tom Clark, who left the Court after his son, Ramsey Clark, became Attorney General.Aug 30, 2021

Who led the naacp Legal Defense 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.

Did Linda Brown go to a white school?

In 1951, when Linda was nine years old, Oliver Brown attempted to enroll her at Sumner Elementary School in Topeka but was unable to because it was an all-white school.Nov 24, 2018

How were black schools different from white schools?

Black schools were overcrowded, with too many students per teacher. More black schools than white had only one teacher to handle students from toddlers to 8th graders. Black schools were more likely to have all grades together in one room. There were not enough desks for the over-crowded classrooms.

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 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.

When did the Supreme Court overturn segregation?

As a result of LDF’s litigation in the 1940s-1960s, the Supreme Court overturned state-sanctioned segregation of public buildings, parks and recreation facilities, hospitals, and restaurants.

Who is the death row inmate in Texas?

LDF continues to fight against systemic racial bias such as in the mission to grant Texas death row inmate Duane Buck, whose death sentence is an unconstitutional product of racial discrimination, a new and fair sentencing hearing.

What was the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education?

This campaign culminated in Brown v.Board of Education the landmark Supreme Court decision in 1954 that has been described as “the most important American governmental act of any kind since the Emancipation Proclamation.”.

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 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 ...

Where did Marshall get his law degree?

Marshall received his law degree from Howard University Law School in 1933, graduating first in his class. At Howard, he met his mentor Charles Hamilton Houston, who encouraged Marshall and his classmates to use the law for social change.

Who was the first black justice?

Four years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson named Marshall U.S. solicitor general and on Aug. 30, 1967, Marshall was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and joined the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Black justice.

What was the first case Marshall sued?

Pearson. Working with his mentor Charles Hamilton Houston, Marshall sued the school for denying admission to Black applicants solely on the basis of race. The legal duo successfully argued that the law school violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of protection of the law, an amendment that addresses citizenship and the rights of citizens.

How many cases did Marshall win?

Marshall became one of the nation's leading attorneys. He argued 32 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning 29. Some of his notable cases include: Smith v. Allwright (1944), which found that states could not exclude Black voters from primaries. Shelley v.

Who was the first black supreme court justice?

Thurgood Marshall. 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.

What was Marshall's most famous case?

Marshall's most famous case was the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case in which Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren noted, "in the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.".

What did Marshall do for the Supreme Court?

During his nearly 25-year tenure on the Supreme Court, Marshall fought for affirmative action for minorities, held strong against the death penalty, and supported of a woman's right to choose if an abortion was appropriate for her.

Who is the head of the NAACP?

Sherrilyn Ifill. Sherrilyn Ifill is the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality.

Who founded the LDF?

LDF was founded in 1940 by legendary civil rights lawyer (and later Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall, and became a separate organization from the NAACP in 1957. The lawyers at the Legal Defense Fund developed and executed the legal strategy that led to the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, widely regarded as the most ...

Who is Dr. Ifill?

Ifill is a frequent public commentator on racial justice issues , known for her fact-based, richly contextualized analysis of complex racial issues. She is a trusted and valued advisor to civic and community leaders, national civil rights colleagues, and business leaders.

Who is the attorney of the year 2020?

Ifill was also named the 2020 Attorney of the Year by The American Lawyer, and was honored with a 2021 Spirit of Excellence Award by the American Bar Association. Ifill graduated from Vassar College in 1984 with a B.A. in English, and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1987.

Who is the woman of the year 2020?

In 2020, Ifill was named one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year for her leadership of LDF, especially during a year that saw constant attacks on our democracy and nationwide protests against police violence in Black communities.

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Founding of The NAACP

  • The NAACP was established in February 1909 in New York City by an interracial group of activists, partially in response to the 1908 Springfield race riot in Illinois. In that effect, two Black men being held in a Springfield jail for alleged crimes against white people were surreptitiously transferred …
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Niagara Movement

  • Some early on members of the organization, which included suffragists, social workers, journalists, labor reformers, intellectuals and others, had been involved in the Niagara Movement, a civil rights grouping started in 1905 and led by Du Bois, a sociologist and writer. In its lease, the NAACP promised to champion equal rights and eliminate racial prejudice, and to "advance the in…
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The Naacp'south Early Decades

  • Since its inception, the NAACP has worked to attain its goals through the judicial system, lobbying and peaceful protests. In 1910, Oklahoma passed a constitutional amendment allowing people whose grandfathers had been eligible to vote in 1866 to annals without passing a literacy examination. This "grandfather clause" enabled illiterate whites to avert taking the reading test w…
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Anti-Lynching Campaign

  • In 1917, some 10,000 people in New York City participated in an NAACP-organized silent march to protest lynchings and other violence confronting Blackness people. The march was one of the starting time mass demonstrations in America against racial violence. The NAACP's anti-lynching crusade became a central focus for the group during its early decades. Ultimately, the NAACP w…
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NAACP Today

  • During the terminal decades of the 20th century, the NAACP experienced financial difficulties and some members charged that the organization lacked direction. Today, the NAACP is focused on such problems equally inequality in jobs, education, health intendance and the criminal justice system, as well equally protecting voting rights. The group also has pushed for the removal of C…
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Sources

  • The Racial History Of The "Grandfather Clause." NPR. Google memorializes the Silent Parade when 10,000 black people protested lynchings. Washington Post. Anti-Lynching Legislation Renewed. U.S. House of Representatives. The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom. Library of Congress.
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Overview

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City.
LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Although LDF can trace its origins to the legal department of the NAACP created by Charles Hamilton Houston in the 1930s, Thurgood Marshallfounded LDF as a separate legal entity in 1940 and LDF became totally independent fro…

About

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 for human rights throughout the world, including in South Africa, Canada, Brazil, and elsewhere."

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 led the NAACP to create its own internal legal department while LDF continued to operate and s…

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 Luther King Jr., among others.

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.
• Debo Adegbile, former acting President-Director Counsel for LDF (2012–2013), argued twice in …

Further reading

• Greenberg, Jack. "Crusaders in the Courts: Legal Battles of the Civil Rights Movement" (2004)
• Hooks, Benjamin L. "Birth and Separation of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund," Crisis 1979 86(6): 218–220. 0011–1422
• King, Gilbert "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America" (2012)

External links

• NAACP-LDF Official Website
• Thurgood Marshall Institute at LDF

Our Founding

  • 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 of law...
See more on naacpldf.org

Civil Rights Legacy

  • 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 school segregation. This campaign c…
See more on naacpldf.org

The Battle For The Ballot

  • 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. Allwrightthat Texas’s refusal to allow African-Americans to vote in the Democratic primary election violated the 15th Amendment. In 1965, LD…
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Changing The Framework of The Law

  • As a longstanding champion of economic justice, LDF has had many groundbreaking victories. 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 …
See more on naacpldf.org

in The Pursuit of Justice

  • Of all the injustices that LDF has challenged in its seven-decade history, few still confront our nation with such blunt force as the persistent racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. LDF has challenged inadequate legal representation, discriminatory jury selection, capital punishment, and criminal statutes and harsh sentencing that disproportionately impact African-Americans an…
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Educating Future Defenders

  • 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, mem…
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Our Continuing Mission

  • At the beginning of the twenty-first century, LDF continues to fight for full racial equality and to guard against efforts to erode previous gains. For instance, in 2010, LDF’s long-standing campaign to expose the injustice of life-without-parole sentences for juveniles was vindicated when the Supreme Court held that such penalties were unconstitutional. Another Supreme Cour…
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