PRINTER'S NO. 1184
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
198
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY HUGHES, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Designating October 2, 2017, as "Justice Thurgood Marshall Day"
in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland,
on July 2, 1908; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Marshall graduated from Lincoln University in
Chester County with honors in 1930, and graduated magna cum
laude from Howard University Law School in 1933; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Marshall joined the legal division of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) in 1934 and from 1938 to 1961 served as the
association's chief counsel; and
WHEREAS, During Mr. Marshall's career with the NAACP he
argued more than a dozen cases before the Supreme Court of the
United States; and
WHEREAS, In 1940, Mr. Marshall won the case of The State of
Connecticut v. Joseph Spell, which helped lay the groundwork for
the Civil Rights Movement; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Marshall served as chief counsel in the case of
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Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the landmark Supreme Court
decision that declared state laws establishing segregated public
schools to be unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, On June 13, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson
nominated Mr. Marshall to a seat on the Supreme Court of the
United States; and
WHEREAS, On August 30, 1967, by an overwhelming vote, Mr.
Marshall's nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States
was confirmed; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Thurgood Marshall, on October 2, 1967,
was sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren, becoming the first
African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United
States; and
WHEREAS, The legacy of Thurgood Marshall continues to serve
as an example and inspiration to all who continue to fight for
justice and equality for all, both in this Commonwealth and
across this nation; and
WHEREAS, October 2, 2017, marks the 50th anniversary of
Thurgood Marshall being sworn in as the first African-American
United States Supreme Court justice; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate designate October 2, 2017, as
"Justice Thurgood Marshall Day" in Pennsylvania.
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