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Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
James Ormsbee Chapin, 1887 - 1975
Sitter
Thurgood Marshall, 2 Jul 1908 - 24 Jan 1993
Date
1955
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on board
Dimensions
Sight: 43.2 x 30.5cm (17 x 12")
Topic
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie
Thurgood Marshall: Male
Thurgood Marshall: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Thurgood Marshall: Law and Crime\Judge\Justice\US Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist
Thurgood Marshall: Presidential Medal of Freedom
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© James Cox Gallery at Woodstock for the James Chapin Estate
Object number
NPG.78.TC564
Exhibition Label
Born Baltimore, Maryland
As chief staff lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1938 to 1961, Thurgood Marshall led the legal campaign to dismantle the nation’s longstanding barriers to racial equality. His crowning achievement in this effort came in 1954, when he tailored the arguments leading to the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which found racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Following this landmark victory, Marshall’s legal stature continued to grow and, in 1967, he became the Supreme Court’s first African American justice.
On May 31, 1955, the Supreme Court issued a follow-up ruling to Brown v. Board of Education that instructed the states to implement school desegregation plans “with all deliberate speed.” The publication of this portrait of Thurgood Marshall on the Time magazine cover of September 19, 1955, coincided with the start of the first school year to come after that ruling.
Nacido en Baltimore, Maryland
Como abogado principal de la Asociación Nacional para el Progreso de las Personas de Color (NAACP) de 1938 a 1961, Thurgood Marshall lideró la campaña legal para eliminar los arraigados obstáculos a la igualdad racial. Su logro más importante se dio en 1954, cuando formuló los argumentos que llevaron a la decisión unánime del Tribunal Supremo en Brown vs. Consejo de Educación, que declaró inconstitucional la segregación racial en las escuelas públicas. El prestigio legal de Marshall siguió en aumento tras esta histórica victoria, y en 1967 se convirtió en el primer juez afroamericano del Tribunal Supremo.
El 31 de mayo de 1955, el Tribunal Supremo emitió un fallo de seguimiento a Brown vs. Consejo de Educación que ordenaba a los estados implementar los planes de integración racial en las escuelas “con rapidez meditada”. Este retrato se publicó en la portada de la revista Time el 19 de septiembre de 1955, coincidiendo con el inicio del primer año escolar tras la decisión del Tribunal.
Collection Description
In 1978, Time magazine donated approximately eight hundred works of original cover art to the National Portrait Gallery. The museum is dedicated to telling the stories of individuals who have shaped the United States, and the Time Collection—featuring prominent international figures and events—enriches our understanding of the United States in a global context.
En 1978, la revista Time donó a la National Portrait Gallery cerca de 800 obras de arte originales creadas para sus portadas. Nuestro museo se dedica a narrar la historia de figuras que han contribuido a forjar el desarrollo de Estados Unidos, y es así que la Colección Time, que incluye retratos de importantes personalidades internacionales, nos ayuda a comprender mejor a nuestra nación en un contexto global.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
The Struggle for Justice Refresh
On View
NPG, West Gallery 220