Marshall to Be Honored on Postage Stamp
Early next year one of the nation’s highest honors will be bestowed
upon Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall when the U.S. Postal Service
issues a new commemorative stamp bearing his image. Marshall joins 25 other
honorees in the Postal Service’s Black Heritage Series, which salutes outstanding
African-American activists, theorists, educators, and leaders.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1908, Marshall graduated from
Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and later graduated first in his class
from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C. Marshall went on
to become one of the best known civil rights lawyers in the U.S. He was
the first director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund,
a job he held for 21 years.
President Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit in 1961. He was appointed the first African-American
solicitor general of the United States in 1965 by President Johnson. In
1967, Marshall marked another historical milestone when he was sworn in
as the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States. During his 24 years on the court, Marshall demonstrated a commitment
to defending constitutional rights and affirmative action.
Marshall died on January 24, 1993, at the age of 85.
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