Thurgood Marshall was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Before becoming a judge, he was a lawyer who was best remembered for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education.
He was nominated to the court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967
Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 2, 1908, as the great-grandson of a slave. His original name was Thoroughgood but he shortened it to Thurgood in second grade, because he disliked spelling it.
His father, William Marshall, who was a railroad porter, instilled in him an appreciation for the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law.
Additionally, as a child, he was punished for his school misbehavior by being forced to write copies of the Constitution, which he later said piqued his interest in the document.
Marshall was married twice; to Vivian "Buster" Burey from 1929 until her death in February 1955 and to Cecilia Suyat from December 1955 until his own death in 1993.
He had two sons from his second marriage. Thurgood Marshall, Jr., who is a former top aide to President Bill Clinton, and John W. Marshall, who is a former United States Marshals Service Director and since 2002 has served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety under Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
