Who was Thurgood Marshall?

• A. A civil rights lawyer and the first Black Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
• B. A 19th-century abolitionist.
• C. The inventor of the telephone.
• D. A mayor of Chicago.

Answer: (A)

Thurgood Marshall was a civil rights lawyer who became the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. He led the NAACP’s legal team and argued and won landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. He then served on the Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991, shaping constitutional law around equal protection and civil rights. This description matches the option describing a civil rights lawyer and the first Black Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The other options describe a 19th-century abolitionist, the inventor of the telephone, and a mayor of Chicago—claims that do not apply to Marshall.