Thurgood Marshall grew up at a time when there were many “Whites Only” signs on businesses and public places in his home city of Baltimore, Maryland. His parents encouraged conversations around the dinner table discussing concerns about what was fair and what was not. When reading the U. S. Constitution (his teacher required him to do so after he acted out in class), Thurgood began to wonder how—when our nation’s laws declared all persons equal—huge disparities in treatment could exist. He loved discussing and debating. He practiced using his curiosity, analytical mind and strong voice all during high school and college and into law school. Over time, Thurgood Marshall became an important part of many “firsts” in matters of racial equality. He participated in the first interracial debate between U.S. colleges in 1928; as a lawyer he won a case establishing the first court order to desegregate a school in 1935; in 1954 he won the landmark U. S. Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education making all school desegregation unconstitutional. After years of hard and determined work for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and then as Solicitor General (the first Black person in this position, arguing cases before the Supreme Court), he was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice in 1967, serving until 1991. Marshall was known as an “activist” judge, who consistently set the bar high on issues of fairness and equality under the law. In the picture book biography The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall’s Life, Leadership, and Legacy, author Kekla Magoon weaves the details of Marshall’s barrier-breaking career into a fully engaging narrative. Laura Freeman’s vivid, sensitive illustrations bring wonderful immediacy to Marshall’s strong character. This inspiring book ends with a timeline of Marshall’s life and descriptions of major court cases. Ages 5-10. Quill Tree Books / HarperCollins Publishers, 2021.
For a contemporary look at Thurgood Marshall’s legacy, view the website of the Legal Defense Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Institute: https://tminstituteldf.org
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