Young Thurgood: The Making of a Supreme Court Justice

YOUNG THURGOOD was a five-star enjoyment for me but I do not give it five stars for the reasons indicated later. It is my hope that Mr. Gibson will make needed editorial corrections for later editions.I agree with the praise for Mr. Gibson's work that so many others have posted already. Like many others, I hope that this work will be widely enjoyed by readers well into the future to introduce them to an historical figure as important as Justice Thurgood Marshall. It is because of the importance of Mr. Gibson's work and the significance of Justice Marshall that I hope the author improves later editions by making needed corrections.In places, errors leap off the pages because they are so obvious. It is difficult to understand how they could have been missed in the reviews that he describes in his Acknowledgements. Mr. Gibson provided a valuable background regarding some of the major figures in the black legal community at the turn of the twentieth century who set the stage for Young Thurgood in Baltimore. He mentions one who he says finished Yale Law School in 1887; within a page or so later, however, he relates that the same person began his Yale Law School studies in 1887. He mentions another attorney who entered the profession in 1893, he says, and "immediately" became active in civil rights efforts including as attorney for the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP. But the NAACP wasn't founded until more than fifteen years later and the local chapter didn't come into being until a few years afterwards. Mr. Gibson mentions an 1891 action by President Harrison, which would have been Benjamin Harrison in 1891, as Mr. Gibson says in the main text. But his supporting endnote notation cites to an 1891 action by Pres. "William" Harrison, the grandfather, who died fifty years before, shortly after his inauguration in 1841. In a final example of the types of errors that were missed, Mr. Gibson mentions "1920s" road trips by Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall. But they did not meet until after the 1920s. That obvious typo should have been caught and corrected. The context made it clear that the author was referring to the 1930s road trips when the two got to know each other well.This isn't nitpicking. Mr. Gibson put forth an excellent effort and his work is well worth the praise. But he should really strive to make it flawless because his work should continue to be enjoyed long into the future. What he has done in the treatment of the young life and the development of this important figure is excellent. It is stunning to realize how hard Thurgood Marshall was working to survive the Great Depression, and just how selfless he was as he sacrificed his law practice to serve so many civil rights efforts. It is a wonder how he managed to stay on his feet, day after day, working a full day in law practice followed by his second job in the Health Department to earn income to survive. It is clear he wasn't making income from law practice and, indeed, was being drained financially by his commitment to so many civil rights efforts of the time.Mr. Gibson's organization and writing is praiseworthy. The maps of Baltimore were most helpful but he deserves credit for his style of description that brought out the geography of the divided society in his clear descriptions. He brought similar clarity of description to the significance of court pleadings, especially the motion practice in several cases that could have proved fatal to some of Marshall's courtroom efforts. It was notably helpful of him to choose not to proceed with a strictly chronological presentation; instead, by organizing his presentation topically, case by case, he made it so much easier to follow the narrative as to each litigation effort even though many were happening simultaneously. His decision was an effective and helpful way to present such a massive effort on the part of Thurgood Marshall. Finally, the most amazing thing to try to comprehend is that Marshall did all of this before the age of thirty years. As Mr. Gibson notes at the outset, he effectively put the lie to the false criticism that Thurgood Marshall was "lazy." No accusation like that could be validly said about the Young Thurgood whom Mr. Gibson describes.

Larry S. Gibson's Young Thurgood is unique, insightful, multidimensional and compelling. It is unique as it focuses on the first thirty years of Thurgood Marshall's life, including his ancestry, Baltimore neighborhood and upbringing, family life, education and intellectual, emotional and moral development. In sociology, we call this "socialization," in psychology, we call it emotional and cognitive development but in civil rights and the law we call it consciousness. The book is insightful because it provides us with a unique history of black lawyers in Maryland, the development of dynamic black institutions born of both racial segregation and determined efforts by black lawyers and professionals to focus on the liberation of black people. Also insightful because we see as never before the impact of Thurgood's parents, relatives and mentors in his genius for advocacy and analysis. It is multidimensional because, Gibson, a skilled photography, archivist, lawyer, teacher, cartographer and Africanist, mobilizes all of these skills in his analysis and narrative of the young Thurgood Marshall. We can see, walk and travel with Thurgood in the photographs, maps and illustrations in the book. Like Thurgood, Marshall had substantial ties to Africa from his days at Lincoln University with Namdi Azikewe and Kwame Nkrumah as classmates to a clear consciousness of his family's African lineage. Gibson too has worked in Africa on elections in Ghana and Liberia and understands the Afroness of Young Thurgood. The book is compelling as it reads like a novel taking us through Thurgood's childhood and high school years in Baltimore, his awakening at Lincoln University, his falling in love with and marrying Vivian Burey before graduating from Lincoln and his combined sorrow at not being able to attend the University of Maryland Law School and great fortune of attending Howard University Law School just as the legendary civil rights lawyer, educator and scholar. Charles Hamilton Houston arrives to lead the Howard University Law School. We see sterling examples of mentoring in the Houston-Marshall relationship. We see a core of black lawyers crossing generational lines to make huge and lasting advances in civil rights law. We see white attitudes change as they encounter the genius of the young Thurgood Marshall able to litigate with the best lawyers, navigate treacherous court rooms and communities and, yet, able to relate to almost anyone with his combination of genius, geniality, charm and even humor. Gibson hits a home run with this book. Twenty years after Thurgood Marshall' death, we are blessed with the most substantial and detailed look into his early life enriched and enlivened by Gibson's relationship and interviews with Marshall's wife, two sons and surviving friends. Once you begin to read, you will be delighted to continue to read. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Great March on Washington and the 60th anniversary of the legendary Brown v. Board of Education case, Young Thurgood will extend and deepen the scope and scale of our understanding of the history, context and significance of these momentous developments in our history and the challenges still remaining.