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Episode 113. 18:53 Working Tools Series: Thurgood Marshall · Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries

• 0:00
  If ever there was a man who represented the core tenets of freemasonry.
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  brotherly love, relief, and truth.
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  It was Thurgood Marshall.
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  Marshall is famous for being the first African American justice of the Supreme Court, but his legacy and influence on our culture are so much greater than that.
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  Brother Marshall had an astute legal mind and ardently voiced his support for civil rights and the policies needed to achieve them.
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  The America he was born into was quite different from the one he left behind, and to say he had a small role in our nation's growth and progress would be to sell him short.
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  He was an attorney of much renowned.
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  A Supreme Court Justice of 24 years, an activist and a Prince Hall Freemason.
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  Here we journey through the inspirational life, career and legacy of Thurgood Marshall.
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  Thurgood Marshall was born on June 2nd, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland.
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  His father, William Marshall, was a railroad porter, and his mother, Norma, was a teacher.
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  Young Marshall was named after his great-grandfather, but the unusual name invited taunting from his friends at only age six.
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  To avoid the teasing to Young Marshall changed his name to Thurgood Thurgood's.
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  Parents were passionate about the United States Constitution.
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  And instilled in him an appreciation for the legal system when he was just a boy.
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  as a child, his father took him to watch court cases to learn the art of debate.
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  The family would later debate the cases and other current events around the dinner table, allowing Thurgood to hone the skills that would make him a prolific lawyer later in life.
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  He said his father taught him to be a lawyer by quote, teaching me to argue by challenging my logic on every point, and by making me prove every statement I made, unquote, despite the effort of his parents to shield him from the harsh realities of being black in the early 19 hundreds, Marshall experienced racial discrimination throughout his youth.
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  At this time, the city of Baltimore had a death rate for African-Americans that was twice as high as that of Caucasians.
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  His personal experiences such as being unable to use all white restrooms and attending a segregated, all black school, shaped his passion for civil rights in grade school.
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  Thurgood was a talented student who placed in the advanced classes.
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  He graduated high school a year early in 1925 and went on to attend Lincoln University, a historically black college in Pennsylvania.
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  After Thurgood graduated, he applied to the University of Maryland School of Law, but was rejected because he was black.
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  Instead, he attended law school at Howard University graduating first in his class in 1933.
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  Once he earned his degree, Harvard University offered him a postgraduate scholarship, but he declined opting instead to open a private practice in Baltimore.
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  Notably, several clients approached Thurgood for help.
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  Despite not being able to pay In the true spirit of a Freemason, he turned no one away and did and did what he could In 1935, still his first year as an attorney, Marshall represented the NAACP in the Pivotal Law School discrimination suit, Murray versus Pearson.
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  This lawsuit brought by the local naacp challenged the University of Maryland Law School over its segregation policy, accusing the school of violating the 14th amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws by denying an African-American applicant admission to its law school solely based on race.
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  Marshall in the NAACP won the lawsuit paving the way for his battle to end racial segregation in America.
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  He soon brought lawsuits that integrated other state universities, and in 1936 he became the NAACP's chief legal Counsel, challenging the board to pursue cases that would strike at the heart of segregation In 1938, Marshall took the helm of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund arguing for pivotal cases such as Sweat versus Painter In McCluen versus Oklahoma Board of Regents of Higher Education, Thurgood won these cases, which were instrumental in starting to dismantle Jim Crow laws in higher education.
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  Ultimately, Marshall argued one of the most critical cases in our nation's history in Brown versus Board of Education in 1954.
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  winning this case in the Supreme Court resulted in the declaration that segregating public schools is unconstitutional In 1957, the legal defense and education fund led by Marshall became an entirely separate entity from the NAACP with its own leadership and board of directors, and has remained a separate organization to this day as a lead legal architect of the Civil Rights Movement.
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  Marshall constantly traveled to small scorching courtrooms throughout the south.
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  At one point, he oversaw as many as 450 simultaneous cases, among other major victories.
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  He successfully challenged a whites only primary election in Texas, in addition to a case in which the Supreme Court declared that restrictive covenants that barred blacks from buying or renting homes could not be enforced in state courts.
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  His his success in the courtroom and his passionate tireless fight to ensure all citizens civil rights.
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  Caught the attention of President John F.
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  Kennedy, who appointed him to the US Court of Appeals in 1961.
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  Although 10 Southern Senators delayed Marshall's confirmation for more than eight months on September 11th, 1962 and after five hours of floor debate, the Senate confirmed Marshall by a 56 to 14 vote.
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  He spent the next three years on the Court of Appeals, authored 98 majority opinions, none of which were reversed by the Supreme Court, as well as eight concurrences and 12 dissents In 1965, he was made Solicitor General by Presidents and fellow Freemason, Lyndon b Johnson.
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  In this role, Thurgood became responsible for arguing Supreme Court cases on behalf of the United States government.
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  Marshall's appointment is Solicitor General was generally considered a precursor to his position on the Supreme Court.
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  Nevertheless, Thurgood was as effective in this role as ever winning 14 of the 19 Supreme Court cases.
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  He argued of his time as solicitor, general Marshall later said it was, quote, the most effective job and maybe the best job he had ever had In 1967, Johnson appointed brother Marshall to the US Supreme Court where he served for 24 years until his retirement in 1991.
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  President Johnson said nominating Marshall was quote the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place, unquote.
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  Justice Marshall spent his many years on the court fighting for societal and political progress.
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  Staunchly upholding individual rights, expanding civil rights, and limiting the scope of criminal punishment.
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  Marshall argued a record breaking 32 cases before the Supreme Court winning 29 of them throughout his career.
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  he represented and won more cases before the high court than any other person through his accomplishments in the courtroom, both as a lawyer and a judge.
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  He shaped the course for our nation through challenging social policies and upholding laws protecting minorities.
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  Brother Marshall retired from the court in 1991 and was succeeded by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.
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  Two years later In 1993, he passed away from heart failure at the age of 84.
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  He laid in repose in the great Hall of the United States Supreme Court so his admirers and colleagues could pay their respects and was later buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
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  brother Thurgood Marshall was a member of Coal Creek Lodge number 88 of the most worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Oklahoma.
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  He was director and counselor of the Prince Hall Grandma's Conference and was a 33rd degree ancient and accepted Scottish Rite Prince Hall.