BY CARL MCROY

hurgood Marshall liked to clown around in the classroom when he was a boy. Although he never lost his sense of humor, Marshall grew up to be a serious civil rights champion in the courtroom. Marshall argued a record setting 32 Supreme Court cases and won 29 of them. He later became the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thurgood Marshall couldn’t have risen to the nation’s highest court without some help. One person who provided a big boost to Marshall’s career was Charles Houston. Born in 1895, Houston suffered severe prejudice while serving in the U.S. Army during World War I. He vowed that if he lived through the war, he would become a lawyer and fight for equal rights.

Houston graduated from Harvard Law School in 1923 and went into private practice with his father, William. He later became a law professor at Howard University and trained young people to join him in the fight for justice. Thurgood Marshall proved to be one of his best students. In the beginning, Marshall thought Professor Houston was too harsh for his fun-loving ways. He was later thankful for Houston’s toughness that prepared him for the challenges of his calling.

Hon. Thurgood Marshall

Marshall learned that Houston cared about the personal success of his students. Just as William Houston had mentored his son, Charles mentored his students. He enlisted Marshall’s help to chip away at the segregation laws of the land. Houston didn’t live long enough to celebrate Brown vs. Board of Education with his protégé, but was confident it would happen. Charles Houston wasn’t afraid of his students exceeding his accomplishments. That’s what he worked and wished for.

Carl McRoy serves as the Director of Literature Ministries for the Adventist Church in North America.