____Marshall was one of the primary leaders for civil rights during the 1950s and 60s. _A distinguished lawyer, Marshall specialized in civil rights cases and was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1939 where he won 29 of the 32 cases he pleaded. _He served the NAACP as special counsel for 12 years and helped lead this organization to many important victories. _Perhaps Marshall's most significant legal victory was the 1954 decision banning racial segregation in public schools. _In October 1967, Marshall was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as the first black member of the Supreme Court.

Thurgood Marshall, shown here about 1940 reading aloud, became director-counsel of the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund, Inc. Marshall argued the Brown case before the United States Supreme Court.