1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: a show that strives to know at least a little 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: bit more about history every day. I'm Gay Bluesier, and 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: today we're looking at the life and times of Thurgood Marshal, 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: including the pivotal role he played in the civil rights 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: movement and his landmark appointment as the first black member 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: of the U s Supreme Corps. The day was June 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Judge Thurgood 10 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: Marshall to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. 11 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: Marshall was well qualified for the role, having served as 12 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,919 Speaker 1: both a judge in the US Court of Appeals and 13 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: as the country's Solicitor General, where he argued cases in 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: front of the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government. 15 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: Despite this in pressive resume and his well attested character, 16 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: Marshall's appointment led to heated debate in Congress. The backlash 17 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: proved to be a bump in the road, though, as 18 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: Marshall's appointment was eventually confirmed, making him the first African 19 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: American in history to sit on the Supreme Court. Thoroughgood 20 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: Marshal he later shortened his name to Thurgood, was born 21 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, at the turn of the 22 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: twentieth century. His mother, Norma Arica Williams, was a school teacher, 23 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: and his father, William Canfield Marshall, worked as a dining 24 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: car waiter on a railroad and then later as the 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: chief steward at a fancy country club. The Marshals were 26 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: by no means wealthy, but they lived a middle class lifestyle, 27 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: and that was notable in itself when you consider that 28 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: Thurgood's great grandfather had been an enslaved man. Thurgood was 29 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: keenly aware of the social progress that had been made 30 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: in just a generation or two, and he would later 31 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,919 Speaker 1: make his life's mission to push that progress even further. 32 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: Thurgood's interest in law stemmed from that of his father, William. 33 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: He had always been interested in legal proceedings and how 34 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: the court system worked, so much so that in his 35 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: free time he would go down to the local courthouse 36 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: and listen to the civil and criminal trials. Sometimes he 37 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: brought his two sons along too. Thurgood and his older 38 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: brother William, when they returned home, the three of them 39 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: would lay out all the arguments they'd heard that day 40 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: and then debate the outcomes around the dinner table. Those 41 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: discussions happened on a weekly basis, sometimes multiple times a week, 42 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: and in all that excitement, Thoroughgood became fascinated with law 43 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: and with how to use words to confront and justice. 44 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: Years later, in nineteen sixty five, he talked about his 45 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: father's early influence, saying, quote, he did it by teaching 46 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: me to argue, by challenging my logic on every point, 47 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: by making me prove every statement. He never told me 48 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: to be a lawyer, but he turned me into one. 49 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: Thurgood Marshall graduated from Lincoln University in nineteen thirty with 50 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: a bachelor's degree in American literature and philosophy. He then 51 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: enrolled in law school at Howard University in Washington, d C. 52 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: At the time, the dean of the law school was 53 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: a respected civil rights lawyer named Charles Houston. Houston was 54 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: a notably strict professor, but Marshall responded well to his 55 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: demanding teaching style. In fact, the two hit it off 56 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: so well that Houston became a mentor to Marshal, and 57 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty six, they began working closely together in 58 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: the legal division of the N Double A c P. 59 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: Houston had resigned as dean a year earlier so that 60 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: he could become the first legal counsel for the organization. 61 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: By the time Thurgood joined the group, Houston had already 62 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: become the director of the entire legal division. The two 63 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: worked side by side on civil rights cases for the 64 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: next few years, and then, when Houston retired from the 65 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: role in nineteen forty, Marshall took over as director, holding 66 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: that top legal post at the N Double A c 67 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: P throughout the nineteen forties and fifties. Marshall's work with 68 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: the organization became the cornerstone of his whole career. As 69 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: the group's chief council, he argued a record setting thirty 70 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: two cases before the U. S. Supreme Court, and get this. 71 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,239 Speaker 1: Out of those thirty two civil rights cases, Marshal one 72 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: twenty nine. Even today, he remains near the top of 73 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: the list for most cases ever argued and one before 74 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court. Among his many landmark victories was nineteen 75 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: fifty four's Brown versus Board of Education, the case that 76 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: brought down school segregation in America and helped launch the 77 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: African American civil rights movement of the next two decades. 78 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,359 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty one, Marshall left the n double a 79 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: c P After being appointed to the U. S Court 80 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: of Appeals by President John F. Kennedy. During his time 81 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: on the Court of Appeals, Marshall issued over one hundred 82 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: decisions on civil rights battles, as well as other hot 83 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: button issues like women's rights and police brutality. Amazingly, none 84 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: of those hundred plus decisions were overturned by the Supreme Court. 85 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty five, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Marshall the 86 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: first black Solicitor General in US history, and he had 87 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: a similarly strong track record during his two years in 88 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,919 Speaker 1: that post as well. He argued nineteen cases before the 89 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: Supreme Court, and one fourteen of them. With a record 90 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: like that, it wasn't long before President Johnson decided that 91 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: Marshall deserved a seat on the highest court himself. However, 92 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: there were a couple of problems with this plan, and 93 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: chief among them was that there wasn't a vacancy on 94 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court, at least not yet. Johnson reportedly engineered 95 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: a vacancy himself by creating a conflict of interest for 96 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: one of the sitting justices, a fellow Democrat named Tom Clark. Allegedly, 97 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: President Johnson appointed Clark's son as Attorney General in order 98 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: to prompt his father to step down so that it 99 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: wouldn't look like nepotism. It's up for debate whether this 100 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: was done specifically to open a seat for Marshall, but 101 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: he certainly was the one who filled it. Still, even 102 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: with Johnson on his side, Marshall's appointment to the Supreme 103 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: Court was anything but easy. His confirmation process was held 104 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: over the course of a long week in the summer 105 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty seven. During that time, Marshall endured more 106 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: hours of questioning than any Supreme Court nominee before him. 107 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,280 Speaker 1: That was largely thanks to a handful of senators from 108 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: Southern states who really did their best to sink his nomination. 109 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: For instance, the head of the committee for Marshall's nomination 110 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: was Mississippi Senator James Eastland. He personally owned a plantation 111 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: that employed more than one one hundred black sharecroppers, and 112 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six, his daughter had been crowned miss 113 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: Confederacy with him in charge, Marshall's appointment was hardly a 114 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: sure thing. Eastland wasn't alone in his opposition either. Senator 115 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: strom Thurman was also on the nomination committee, and his 116 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: main contribution was to subject Marshall to a kind of 117 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: Jim Crow era literacy test. He crossed examined Marshall, quizzing 118 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: him on obscure, absurdly specific portions of political history. For example, 119 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: he was asked to name every member of the Congressional 120 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: committee that had reviewed the fourteenth Amendment in eighteen sixty six. 121 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: Marshall couldn't do that, but of course there's no reason 122 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: why Supreme Court justice would need to rattle off random 123 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: information like that anyway. It's also worth noting that a 124 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: little later in the proceedings, Ted Kennedy asked strom Thurman 125 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: if he could name the committee members from eighteen sixty six, 126 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: and guess what he couldn't either. The Southern Senators drilled 127 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: Marshal because of the color of his skin and because 128 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: of what he represented, not because they had any serious 129 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: doubts about his legal knowledge or fitness to serve. In 130 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: the end, the case against Marshall was so flimsy that 131 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: the Judiciary Committee approved his nomination with a resounding eleven 132 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: to five vote, and then the city confirmed him as 133 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: well with an equally definitive vote of sixty nine to eleven. 134 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: After what had been an exhausting confirmation process, Thurgood Marshal 135 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: was finally sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme 136 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: Court on October two, nineteen sixty seven. The next few 137 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: years went smoothly for Marshal, as he had joined a 138 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: very liberal Supreme Court, one that aligned well with his 139 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: own political views. However, that would change drastically over the 140 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:56,319 Speaker 1: course of the nineteen seventies and eighties. In fact, during 141 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: Marshall's twenty four years on the court, Republican President made 142 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: eight consecutive appointments, transforming the court and filling every spot 143 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: on the bench except for Marshals. That means that in 144 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: the second half of his tenure, Marshall was in the 145 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: minority and found his opinions increasingly overruled. As you might imagine, 146 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: that wasn't an easy transition for someone whose entire career 147 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: had been built on his neck for winning cases. As 148 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: a result, Marshall became more and more isolated from the 149 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: rest of the court, with his contributions mostly limited to 150 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 1: strongly worded dissents about his colleague's rulings. Still, Marshall never 151 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: gave up. At one point he even vowed to remain 152 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: on the Court until he was a hundred and ten 153 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: years old. He gave it a value and effort, but 154 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: in the end he became too ill to continue serving 155 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: and had to step down in two years later, he 156 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: passed away at the age of eighty four. Third Good 157 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,080 Speaker 1: Marshal had been somewhat hindered after finally making it to 158 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court, but his presence on the bench still 159 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: had a profound impact on the country and on the 160 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,079 Speaker 1: issues he spent his whole life fighting for. Even if 161 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: you don't have a personal connection to martial service, or 162 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: if you don't share all of his political views, there's 163 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,439 Speaker 1: still so much to admire about his legacy, his commitment 164 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: to changing the system from within, and to being a 165 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: voice for the voiceless, our ideals that should resonate with 166 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: all of us, regardless of race or party preference. As 167 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: Marshall once said, where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, 168 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: speak out, because this is your country, this is your democracy, 169 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:50,439 Speaker 1: Make it, protect it, pass it, on I'm Gay Bluesier 170 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 171 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more 172 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: about history by following us on Twitter, Acebook and Instagram 173 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: at t D i HC Show, and if you have 174 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, you can always send them my 175 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 1: way at This Day at I heart media dot com. 176 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: Special thanks to guest producers Joey pat and Casey Pegram, 177 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 178 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another day in History class.