Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Spring 2018 - 13

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject

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to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state

An
"Evangelist"

wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall

any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process

of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws.

of the fourteenth
By Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire

O

ne is hard pressed to think of an attorney who breathed
more life into the Fourteenth Amendment's clauses
of "equal protection" and "due process of law" than
Thurgood Marshall. And by doing so in the Jim Crow South, his
life was often threatened. I submit that no other trial attorney
accomplished as much while risking so much.
A law professor is quoted in Juan Williams' biography
Thurgood Marshall American Revolutionary as saying: "When I
think of great American lawyers, I think of Thurgood Marshall,
Abe Lincoln and Daniel Webster. He is certainly the most
important lawyer of the twentieth century."1
As we approach the 150th anniversary of the Fourteenth
Amendment's ratification on July 9, 1868, it seems only
appropriate to reflect on the life and career of Thurgood Marshall.

The Early Years
Born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, Marshall was
educated in the city's segregated schools. While a student in the
Colored High School, he developed a reputation "as a cutup and
prankster" whose "antics occasionally led to punishment." As the
story is told, the high school principal once sent young Marshall
"to the basement with a copy of the United States Constitution
and told him he had to memorize it before he could leave. 'Before
I left that school,' Marshall said later, 'I knew the whole thing by
heart.'"2
1
Juan Williams, Thurgood Marshall American Revolutionary, (Times Books
1998), p. 400 (hereinafter "Williams").

2
Id. 35. However, the telling of this tale may be an example of Marshall not
letting "the truth stand in the way of a good story." Larry S. Gibson, Young
Thurgood: The Making of a Supreme Court Justice, (Prometheus Books 2012),
pp. 332-333.

3

Id. 39.

Following graduation from high school, Marshall entered
Lincoln University, despite family finances being very tight. On
his college application, "in response to the question 'What do
you plan as your life's work?' the sixteen-year-old wrote simply:
'Lawyer.'"3
Lincoln "prided itself in training eloquent public speakers"
and its successful debating teams "showcased the pinnacle of the
Lincoln oratory tradition."4 Marshall was the first freshman ever
to win a place on Lincoln's varsity debate team. He "enjoyed
all aspects of debating: the research, the group discussions, the
practice arguments, the travel, and the competitions..."5
In his recent book Young Thurgood: The Making of a Supreme
Court Justice, law professor Larry S. Gibson notes that Marshall
was part of debate history. He was on the Lincoln team that
faced off with a team from The Pennsylvania State University
on February 26, 1927, being "the first debate ever between a
black American college and white American college." 6 The
topic was whether Prohibition should be modified to permit the
manufacture and sale of light wines and beer.
"After prolonged deliberation, the judges voted two to one in
favor of Penn State," but the Philadelphia Tribune took note of
"sophomore Marshall's oratorical performance" and reported he
"should stand preeminently above most of the debaters of color in
collegiate competitions in the country."7
Continued on page 14
Larry S. Gibson, Young Thurgood: The Making of a Supreme Court Justice,
(Prometheus Books 2012), p. 86 (hereinafter "Gibson").

4

5
6
7

Id. 87.
Id. 95.
Id. 96.

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