In December of 1955, Thurgood Marshall married Cecilia "Cissy" Suyat, a secretary for the NAACP. Justice Marshall's first wife, the former Vivien Burey, whom he married in 1929, died of cancer in February 1955. They were married until 1955. Marshall lived with his wife near Washington, D.C., until his death in 1993. Unless you're a lawyer or a law super-nerd, you can probably only name a handful of Supreme Court decisions. His first wife died in February 1955. Marshall's most famous legal victory, Brown v. Board of Education, preceded King's first nationally recognized civil rights campaign, the Montgomery bus boycott, by about a year. His birth first name was Thoroughgood, but as a child Marshall got tired of having to write out such a long name. His retirement in 1991 left the Court in the hands of more conservative justices. His fears were proved right: the car left the road and headed towards the Duck River — a notorious lynching spot, now filled with a white mob. Sciences, Culinary Arts and Personal Having spent over two decades confronting courtrooms with racial injustices, in 1961 Thurgood Marshall switched to the other side of the bench when President Kennedy appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Marshall traveled a lot in his work with the NAACP and was accused of having affairs, and Burey's pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Marshall and his wife Vivian lived with his parents in Baltimore to save money. Because Marshall was in the middle of arguing Brown v. Board of Education, Buster did not tell Marshall of her illness until after May 17, 1954 when the case was decided. Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908–January 24, 1993), whose great-grandparents were enslaved, was the first Black justice appointed to the United States Supreme Court, where he … But Marshall didn't care. Thurgood Marshall's sense of humor and infinite charm made him a hit with women. Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Thurgood Marshall had two sons with Suyat. From Baltimore, he took trains to Washington every day and worked three part-time jobs to make ends meet. Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, Marshall disagreed with King's strategy of using non-violent demonstrations and marches to win civil rights, fearing that these would provoke a backlash and lead to attacks and riots against Black people. Thurgood Marshall is best remembered for his jurisprudence in the arena of civil rights and criminal proceedings. However, he is still a hero among civil rights legislators, thanks to his determination to force the Constitution to live up to its promise to protect everyone equally — even people the Founding Fathers didn't regard as human. Before his second year started, ThoughtCo. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. All rights reserved. Ultimately, however, he retired from the Court in 1991, with plans to "sit on my rear-end." This isn't the same as a Catholic saint: there's no need to prove miracles, and no one is worshiping him. Thurgood Marshall's success as a civil rights lawyer also made him a target of racist whites. There are some school or Academy which was named after him such as Marshall Middle School in Olympia, Washington, Thurgood Marshall Academy in Washington, D.C. Become a Study.com member to unlock this Suyat remained married to Marshall until his death in 1993. Growing up in Baltimore, Thurgood Marshall's father exposed him to law at an early age and his mother encouraged his ambitions. Durin John is the younger of two sons of Thurgood Marshall, the lead attorney in Brown v Board of Education, and our nation’s first African-American Associate Justice of … Solicitor General, which again meant arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court, this time on behalf of the federal government. Birthplace: Baltimore, MD Location of death: Bethesda, MD Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: B. Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP were also wary of the Bureau's prying eyes, but they were more concerned about white supremacist terrorist groups like the KKK. Left to right are his... Thurgood Marshall gets a last minute check from his wife, Cecilia Suyat, before his swearing in at the Supreme Court in 1967. His original name was Thoroughgood but he shortened it to Thurgood … There were no children from this union. says Marshall switched from medicine to law. Select from premium Thurgood Marshall Wife of the highest quality. Marshall and his wife Vivian lived with his parents in Baltimore to save money. ... Just before graduation, he married his first wife, Vivian "Buster" Burey. Thurgood's father, William, quit high school and eventually worked as a railroad porter and head steward at a whites-only country club. As a junior in college, he married his first wife, Vivian Burey in 1929. Marshall's first wife, Vivian Burney, died in February 1955. 1954 They went on to have two sons, Thurgood, Jr. and John. Later that year, he married Cecilia Suyat. Earn Transferable Credit & Get your Degree. February 11, 1955 (aged 44) Nationality. He was the son of the late Norma Arica, who was among the first black women to graduate from Columbia Teacher's College in New York. Marshall retired in October 1991 and was replaced by Clarence Thomas. After his first wife’s death, he married Cecilia Suyat in December, 1955. Marshall got married to Cecilia Suyatin December the same year. During his decades-long law career, Marshall worked for civil rights for all Americans. Thurgood Marshall's sense of humor and infinite charm made him a hit with women. Despite evidence that proved the men weren't even in town when the alleged crime occurred, they were found guilty. The younger son, John, is a Virginia state policeman. Who was the name of Thurgood Marshall's first wife? Some people have taken this admiration one step further. The Independent says Marshall won 32 of 39 cases. Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. He was mowing the lawn at his posh residence in … Thurgood Marshall, right, with his wife, Cecilia. Houston planned to recruit up-and-coming Black lawyers to fight the NAACP's battle against segregation laws. When did Thurgood Marshall marry his wife? The couple had two sons together; one of whom was aide to President Bill Clinton and the other, a former United States Marshals Service Director. After becoming chief counsel of the NAACP in 1938, Thurgood Marshall focused most of his personal efforts on undermining segregation: but he also fought to save Black defendants who faced the death penalty. Deciding that it was better to keep the FBI as an ally against more dangerous enemies, Marshall and other NAACP leaders strategically fed agents information about suspected Communists that had infiltrated the group. He set a record for the number of cases argued and won in front of the Supreme Court — most famously, Brown v. Board of Education. As Marshall grew up, he wasn't afraid to literally fight back against the racism he encountered in segregated Baltimore. The first wife of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. But the truth of the Montgomery bus boycott is that the courageous actions of the Black protestors were given teeth by a Supreme Court decision argued by Marshall and other lawyers in the NAACP. She feared that an interracial marriage might attract negative attention to both the NAACP and Marshall. Cecilia "Cissy" Suyat was born in Pu'unene, Maui, in Hawaii on July 20, 1928. In 1940, he won his first of many victories in the Supreme Court: over the next 21 years, he won 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the Court — a record. Marshall was the Court's first African-American justice. He shortened his name to Thurgood … Thurgood Marshall. Shepherd died, but Irvin survived that and a second gunshot. He knew the whole thing by age 16. When the FBI supposedly uncovered details about King's extramarital affairs, Marshall didn't believe the information but also defended Hoover. 200. In 1967, Marshall was confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice — the first Black person to serve on the highest court in the country. In 1936, Marshall and his mentor Charles Hamilton Houston served as the attorneys for Donald Gaines Murray, a law student who filed suit after he, like Marshall, was rejected by the University of Maryland School of Law over his race. Martin Luther King, Jr. was top of Hoover's list of targets, mainly because Hoover believed he had ties to Communists. There’s a story about Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the Supreme Court, that I hope is true. How did Thurgood Marshall join the NAACP? Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice. His maternal great-grandfather was kidnapped from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) when he was a child, and enslaved in Maryland. Thurgood Marshall, right, with his wife, Cecilia. Create your account. Thurgood Marshall, originally Thoroughgood Marshall, (born July 2, 1908, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.—died January 24, 1993, Bethesda), lawyer, civil rights activist, and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1967–91), the Court’s first African American member. Marshall graduated top of his class and passed the bar exam in 1933. Presently, Marshall Jr. is an attorney in Washington, D.C. His feast day is on May 17, the day the Brown v. Board of Education decision was handed down in 1954. As part of the establishment, he also disagreed with King's opposition to the Vietnam War. He passed away due to heart failure on January 24, 1993 in Maryland at the age of 84. Marshall wanted to attend the University of Maryland's School of Law but was denied acceptance because he was black. He founded the Legal Defense Fund in 1940, which served as the engine in the legal battles of the Civil Rights Movement. 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