who was the naacp’s chief legal officer and successful attorney?

by Dawson Corkery 4 min read

In 1936, Marshall became the NAACP's chief legal counsel.

Who was involved in the legal strategy of the NAACP?

Who was the naacp's chief legal officer and successful attorney? Marshall. Click to see full answer. In this way, who was the naacp lawyer? Thurgood Marshall. Similarly, who was the leader of Browns naacp legal defense team? Thurgood Marshall. Herein, who …

Who is the Solicitor General for the NAACP?

President & CEO Derrick Johnson The accomplished activists, professionals, and philanthropists who lead NAACP are committed to ending race-based discrimination. Through their various roles and areas of expertise, they bolster the work and drive the fight for civil rights and social justice. Meet the Senior Staff

What is the NAACP?

National Officers Janai Nelson President and Director-Counsel NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. Kim Koopersmith Co-Chair Akin Gump Angela Vallot Co-Chair VallotKarp Consulting, LLC. Sherrilyn Ifill President and Director-Counsel Emeritus NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc. James Castillo Treasurer Former VP, United Parcel Service

Who was the first president of the NAACP?

 · Pioneering civil-rights attorney Thurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), successfully argued the case before the court. Marshall, who founded the LDF in...

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Who was the naacp's leading lawyer who eventually became the first black Supreme Court justice?

Thurgood MarshallContents. Thurgood Marshall—perhaps best known as the first African American Supreme Court justice—played an instrumental role in promoting racial equality during the civil rights movement. As a practicing attorney, Marshall argued a record-breaking 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them.

Who was the naacp's chief counsel who was later appointed to the US Supreme Court in 1967?

Thurgood MarshallThurgood MarshallIn office August 23, 1965 – August 30, 1967PresidentLyndon B. JohnsonPreceded byArchibald CoxSucceeded byErwin Griswold22 more rows

Who was the naacp's legal director?

(NAACP LDF or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City....NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.AbbreviationLDFRegion servedUnited StatesPresident and Director-CounselJanai NelsonWebsitewww.naacpldf.org5 more rows

Who became the naacp most successful lawyer?

In 1936 Marshall became a staff lawyer under Houston for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); in 1938 he became the lead chair in the legal office of the NAACP, and two years later he was named chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Who was the Supreme Court Chief Justice who wrote the decision for Brown v Board of Education?

Chief Justice Earl WarrenThe Supreme Court's opinion in the Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954 legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case.

Who was Marshall Thurgood?

Thurgood Marshall was a civil rights lawyer who used the courts to fight Jim Crow and dismantle segregation in the U.S. Marshall was a towering figure who became the nation's first Black United States Supreme Court Justice. He is best known for arguing the historic 1954 Brown v.

What did Sherrilyn Ifill do?

Over 20 years, Ifill taught civil procedure and constitutional law to thousands of law students, and pioneered a series of law clinics, including one of the earliest law clinics in the country, focused on challenging legal barriers to the reentry of ex-offenders.

Is Sherrilyn Ifill married?

Ivo KnoblochSherrilyn Ifill / Spouse (m. 1988)

How old is Sherrilyn Ifill?

59 years (December 17, 1962)Sherrilyn Ifill / Age

Who was the first black attorney?

Macon Bolling AllenMacon Bolling AllenResting placeCharleston, South CarolinaOther namesAllen Macon BollingOccupationLawyer, judgeKnown forFirst African-American lawyer and Justice of the Peace4 more rows

Who was the first black justice?

Justice Thurgood Marshall: First African American Supreme Court Justice. On June 13, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated distinguished civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall to be the first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

What was Thurgood Marshall's major accomplishments?

Marshall founded LDF in 1940 and served as its first Director-Counsel. He was the architect of the legal strategy that ended the country's official policy of segregation and was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court.

Who was the leader of the NAACP?

The larger conference resulted in a more diverse organization, where the leadership was predominantly white. Moorfield Storey , a white attorney from a Boston abolitionist family, served as the president of the NAACP from its founding to 1915.

Who is the NAACP?

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey and Ida B. Wells.

What did Wells Barnett call for?

Wells-Barnett addressed the conference on the history of lynching in the United States and called for action to publicize and prosecute such crimes. The members chose the new organization's name to be the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and elected its first officers:

What is the NAACP's mission?

Its mission in the 21st century is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination". National NAACP initiatives include political lobbying, publicity efforts and litigation strategies developed by its legal team.

Where is the NAACP headquartered?

The NAACP is headquartered in Baltimore, with additional regional offices in New York, Michigan, Georgia, Maryland, Texas, Colorado and California. Each regional office is responsible for coordinating the efforts of state conferences in that region. Local, youth, and college chapters organize activities for individual members.

Who were the founding members of the NAACP?

Formation. Founders of the NAACP: Moorfield Storey, Mary White Ovington and W.E.B. Du Bois. The Race Riot of 1908 in Springfield, Illinois, the state capital and President Abraham Lincoln 's hometown, was a catalyst showing the urgent need for an effective civil rights organization in the U.S.

Who was the Jewish leader who became chairman of the NAACP?

Jewish historian Howard Sachar writes in his book A History of Jews in America that "In 1914, Professor Emeritus Joel Spingarn of Columbia University became chairman of the NAACP and recruited for its board such Jewish leaders as Jacob Schiff, Jacob Billikopf, and Rabbi Stephen Wise .".

What is the NAACP?

The accomplished activists, professionals, and philanthropists who lead NAACP are committed to ending race-based discrimination. Through their various roles and areas of expertise, they bolster the work and drive the fight for civil rights and social justice.

Who is the CEO of the NAACP?

President & CEO Derrick Johnson. The accomplished activists, professionals, and philanthropists who lead NAACP are committed to ending race-based discrimination. Through their various roles and areas of expertise, they bolster the work and drive the fight for civil rights and social justice.

Did the NAACP get a law passed?

Ultimately, the NAACP was unable to get a federal anti-lynching law passed ; however, its efforts increased public awareness of the issue and are thought to have contributed to an eventual decline in lynchings.

What is the NAACP?

The NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established in 1909 and is America’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was formed in New York City by white and Black activists, partially in response to the ongoing violence against African Americans around the country. In the NAACP’s early decades, its anti-lynching campaign was central to its agenda. During the civil rights era in the 1950s and 1960s, the group won major legal victories, and today the NAACP has more than 2,200 branches and some half a million members worldwide.

What was the NAACP's early decade?

The NAACP’s Early Decades. Anti-Lynching Campaign. Civil Rights Era. NAACP Today. Sources. The NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established in 1909 and is America’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was formed in New York City by white and Black activists, partially in response to ...

When was the NAACP founded?

Sources. The NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established in 1909 and is America’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was formed in New York City by white and Black activists, partially in response to the ongoing violence against African Americans around the country.

How many branches does the NAACP have?

During the civil rights era in the 1950s and 1960s, the group won major legal victories, and today the NAACP has more than 2,200 branches and some half a million members worldwide.

Who was the first black president of the NAACP?

A white lawyer, Moorfield Storey, became the NAACP’s first president. Du Bois, the only Black person on the initial leadership team, served as director of publications and research. In 1910, Du Bois started The Crisis, which became the leading publication for Black writers; it remains in print today.

Who was the only black person on the initial leadership team?

Du Bois, the only Black person on the initial leadership team, served as director of publications and research. In 1910, Du Bois started The Crisis, which became the leading publication for Black writers; it remains in print today.

Who was the first NAACP staff attorney?

In 1931, the NAACP's first staff attorney, Nathan Margold, outlined a legal strategy to challenge school segregation. His strategy was part direct, part circumspect. Given the temper of the times, Margold recognized that it wouldn't do to attack school segregation under any and all circumstances.

Who succeeded Margold as the NAACP's chief attorney?

In 1933, Charles Hamilton Houston succeeded Margold as the NAACP's chief attorney. Houston was a man of extraordinary brilliance.

What legal strategy brought down separate but equal?

The Legal Strategy That Brought Down "Separate but Equal" by Toppling School Segregation. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in 1909 to fight Jim Crow, 20th-century America's experience with petty and not so petty apartheid.

Who was the leader of the NAACP?

Diamond, and Leland B. Ware. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in 1909 to fight Jim Crow, 20th-century America's experience with petty and not so petty apartheid. Under the leadership of W.E.B. Du Bois, the NAACP would take the bully pulpit to push for the abolition ...

What was the NAACP?

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in 1909 to fight Jim Crow, 20th-century America's experience with petty and not so petty apartheid. Under the leadership of W.E.B. Du Bois, the NAACP would take the bully pulpit to push for the abolition of segregation and racial caste distinctions, ...

What was the NAACP's goal?

Du Bois, the NAACP would take the bully pulpit to push for the abolition of segregation and racial caste distinctions, and it would fight for open and equal access to education and employment for Negroes. It would crusade against lynching and offer legal assistance to defend black people mistreated in criminal court. Over time, the NAACP would become the nation's premier civil rights organization. It would do so in large part because the NAACP early on recognized that the courts, despite their racial conservatism, were a potentially potent weapon in the battle for racial change.

What was the NAACP dealing with?

Professional schools offered a more tempting target: The NAACP was dealing with total exclusion; the state provided a law school or a medical school, but only for whites.

What is the NAACP?

The NAACP founded. *This date marks the anniversary of the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) in 1909. They are one of the oldest organizations designed to fight for American Civil Rights. An offspring of the 1905 Niagara Movement, the NAACP's purpose was to improve the conditions under which Black ...

What was the NAACP's purpose?

An offspring of the 1905 Niagara Movement, the NAACP's purpose was to improve the conditions under which Black Americans lived at that time. Although these conditions have improved enormously, many differences still exist in the rights of U.S. citizens solely because of race or ethnic origin.

When was the NAACP founded?

The NAACP founded. *This date marks the anniversary of the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) in 1909. They are one of the oldest organizations designed to fight for American Civil Rights.

What was the NAACP's most important victory?

Perhaps the most important single victory won by the organization was the U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1954 declaring that racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The NAACP operates under a president and chief executive officer who report to a 17-member executive committee of its board of directors.

What is the NAACP's single class of citizenship?

The NAACP continues to seek a single class of citizenship for every American. Perhaps the most important single victory won by the organization was the U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1954 declaring that racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

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Early life and education

Early career

  • Immediately after graduation, Marshall opened a law office in Baltimore and in the early 1930s, he represented the local NAACP chapter in a successful lawsuit that challenged the University of Maryland Law School over its segregation policy. In addition, he successfully brought lawsuits that integrated other state universities. In 1936, Marshall be...
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Significance

  • After founding the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1940, Marshall became the key strategist in the effort to end racial segregation, in particular meticulously challenging Plessy v. Ferguson , the Court-sanctioned legal doctrine that called for separate but equal structures for white and blacks. Marshall won a series of court decisions that gradually struck down that doctrine, ultimately lea…
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Leadership

  • In 1957 LDF, 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.
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Later career

  • In 1961, President Kennedy nominated Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in which he wrote 112 opinions, none of which was overturned on appeal. Four years later, he was appointed by President Johnson to be solicitor general and in 1967 President Johnson nominated him to the Supreme Court to which he commented: I have a lifetime appointment and I intend to …
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Criticisms

  • As a Supreme Court Justice, he became increasingly dismayed and disappointed as the courts majority retreated from remedies he felt were necessary to address remnants of Jim Crow. In his Bakke dissent, he wrote: In light of the sorry history of discrimination and its devastating impact on the lives of Negroes, bringing the Negro into the mainstream of American life should be a sta…
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Legacy

  • In particular, Marshall fervently dissented in cases in which the Supreme Court upheld death sentences; he wrote over 150 opinions dissenting from cases in which the Court refused to hear death penalty appeals. Among Marshalls salient majority opinions for the Supreme Court were: Amalgamated Food Employees Union v. Logan Valley Plaza, in 1968, which determined that a m…
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Organization

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The NAACP is headquartered in Baltimore, with additional regional offices in New York, Michigan, Georgia, Maryland, Texas, Colorado and California.Each regional office is responsible for coordinating the efforts of state conferences in that region. Local, youth, and college chapters organize activities for individual members. In t…
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Predecessor: The Niagara Movement

  • The Pan-American Exposition of 1901 in Buffalo, New York, featured many American innovations and achievements, but also included a disparaging caricature of slave life in the South as well as a depiction of life in Africa, called "Old Plantation" and "Darkest Africa", respectively. A local African-American woman, Mary Talbert of Ohio, was appalled by the exhibit, as a similar one in Paris hig…
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History

  • Formation
    The Race Riot of 1908 in Springfield, Illinois, the state capital and President Abraham Lincoln's hometown, was a catalyst showing the urgent need for an effective civil rights organization in the U.S. In the decades around the turn of the century, the rate of lynchings of blacks, particularly m…
  • Jim Crow and disenfranchisement
    In its early years, the NAACP was based in New York City. It concentrated on litigation in efforts to overturn disenfranchisement of blacks, which had been established in every southern state by 1908, excluding most from the political system, and the Jim Crow statutes that legalized racial s…
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Local Branch Impact

  • The organization's national initiatives, political lobbying, and publicity efforts were handled by the headquarters staff in New York and Washington, D.C. Court strategies were developed by the legal team based for many years at Howard University. NAACP local branches have also been important. When, in its early years, the national office launched campaigns against The Birth of …
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Current Activities

  • Youth
    Youth sections of the NAACP were established in 1936; there are now more than 600 groups with a total of more than 30,000 individuals in this category. The NAACP Youth & College Division is a branch of the NAACP in which youth are actively involved. The Youth Council is composed of hu…
  • Environmental justice
    The environmental justice group at NAACP has 11 full-time staff members. In April 2019, the NAACP published a report outlining the tactics used by the fossil fuel industry. The report claims that "Fossil fuel companies target the NAACP for manipulation and co-optation."The NAACP ha…
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Awards

See Also

Further Reading

  1. Alexander, Shawn Leigh. An Army of Lions: The Civil Rights Struggle Before the NAACP.(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012).
  2. Berg, Manfred. The Ticket to Freedom: The NAACP and the Struggle for Black Political Integration(Univ. Press of Florida. 2007).
  3. Browne-Marshall, Gloria J. The Voting Rights War: The NAACP and the Ongoing Struggle for …
  1. Alexander, Shawn Leigh. An Army of Lions: The Civil Rights Struggle Before the NAACP.(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012).
  2. Berg, Manfred. The Ticket to Freedom: The NAACP and the Struggle for Black Political Integration(Univ. Press of Florida. 2007).
  3. Browne-Marshall, Gloria J. The Voting Rights War: The NAACP and the Ongoing Struggle for Justice.Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2016.
  4. Bynum, Thomas L. NAACP: Youth and the Fight for Black Freedom, 1936–1965.Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2013.

External Links