Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland.  His mother was Norma Marshall.  She was a school teacher.  His father was William Marshall.  Thurgood’s father worked as a waiter on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.  He was interested in trials and would go to court and watch the trials.  He liked to read about the trials too.  Sometimes he would take Thurgood to the trials with him.  Thurgood’s father was the first African American to be on a Baltimore grand jury.  He told his sons to be proud of themselves and their race. 

     Thurgood decided to be a lawyer.  When it was time for him to go to law school, his mother sold her wedding dress and engagement rings to help pay his way.  Thurgood studied hard and made good grades.  He really wanted to be a lawyer.

     He got married two times.  His first wife died because she had cancer.  Later on he got married again.  They had two sons.  He kept working hard for equal rights for everyone.  He was a really good lawyer.  He became a really good judge too.  He was a leader of the Civil Rights movement.  He served on the highest court in the United States.  The name of the court is the United States Supreme Court.

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