thurgood marshall

Thurgood Marshall / Wikimedia Commons

On Aug. 30, 1967, Thurgood Marshall was confirmed by the United States Senate as the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Throughout his tenure as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and even prior to his nomination to the court by President Johnson, Marshall left his mark on various cases that have proved pivotal to pushing America closer toward being a fair and just society for all.

Here are five Supreme Court cases in which Marshall fought for justice—often while he was on the other side of the bench—and won.

Trevor Barton 8-17-2012
School bus interior, Suzanne Tucker / Shutterstock.com

School bus interior, Suzanne Tucker / Shutterstock.com

Every morning at 7:15, the doors of our school open wide to a line of bus riders ready to come inside. "Hello, Jaheem. Hi, Kiara. Hey, Imani. Hope you're having a good day, Omar," I call out as the students walk past me to the cafeteria for breakfast. I stand at the doors for a moment and watch the big, yellow buses puff their diesel exhaust and chug their way to the garage until it's time for their afternoon run.

Is there a more universal symbol for public schools than a big, yellow school bus?

Duane Shank 4-12-2010
There's an old story about a man and his wife driving into town one evening.

John Hope Franklin lived through most of the twentieth century. He was a gentle man, a scholar, an activist, and a truth-teller. He studied history and he helped to make it.