Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was the lead attorney for the NAACP as it pursued the Brown v. Board of Education decision— but the BTA reflects his fight for Black educators and students long before that landmark ruling. As NAACP special counsel, he argued salary equalization cases for Black teachers in Virginia and Maryland in the late 1930s and 1940s, appearing before teacher associations to report on the legal struggle waged on their behalf. Following the Brown ruling in 1954, Marshall attended the 52nd Annual American Teachers Association Convention and told 19,000 Black educators from 18 states that the decision was an "epic victory for democracy" — and that state laws must yield. The BTA helps us appreciate Marshall’s longstanding partnership with Black educators.

Here is a curated selection of his name mentioned in the collection.