The newly erected student housing complex at Morgan State University, named after the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, is more than just a dormitory for freshman computer science major Matthew Brown.
The building is a constant reminder of the contributions his great-grandfather, Philip L. Brown, Sr., made while working with Marshall on a lawsuit for equal pay for Annapolis teachers more than 80 years ago. Marshall, who was a civil rights attorney at the time and had not yet been appointed to the high court, represented Philip Brown, who helped found the Colored Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County.
When grandson Matthew Brown, 18, first arrived to campus in late August and received his room assignment in the new dorm, he noticed the modern stainless steel fixtures and the faint smell of fresh paint coming off of the Prussian Blue walls. But what caught his attention even more was photographs in the lobby of protesting during the Civil Rights era.
Matthew Brown’s room assignment is on the third floor, which focuses on Brown V. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case where Marshall famously convinced the justices to unanimously declare that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional.
“Every time I get on and off the elevator, I’m reminded of my family’s history in real-time,” Brown said.
Dr. Larry Gibson, an attorney and historian who wrote “Young Thurgood: The Making of a Supreme Court Justice”, a book about Thurgood Marshall’s childhood growing up in Baltimore, curated the dorm to tell the legendary attorney’s life story.
Morgan President David Wilson reached out to Gibson personally to be the lead historian of the $95 million, 10-story student housing complex, which can house up to 670 students in suite-style apartments and is decked out with laundry rooms, study spaces and lounges, fitness rooms on every other floor, a counseling suite and a convenience store.
Gibson said he already had the material from when he wrote the book that was authorized by the family to provide the historical record for the project.
But Gibson, the Morton & Sophia Macht Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis Carey School of Law, became fascinated with Marshall even before the book, which he wrote at the suggestion of former UMD law school dean Karen Rothenberg.
In 1975, Gibson, representing former Baltimore City school superintendent Dr. Roland Patterson, who was being fired by the school system, sought out Marshall. It was his first encounter with the justice.
“There was a hearing scheduled and I wanted the Supreme Court to intervene and block this hearing,” Gibson said.
He went to Marshall’s house in Fall Church, Virginia, with another lawyer, Charles Lee Curtis. They got lost — several times.
“We finally got to his house at 11 o’clock at night,” Gibson said. “So the question to me was, ‘am I going to knock on this man’s door?’ And I figured I’m already here – why not?” Gibson said.
According to Gibson, the first thing that Marshall said to him was “Counselor, this had better be a criminal matter.” To which he responded, “No, Mr. Justice it is not. But it is about Baltimore and I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I would get to that.”
Many believed Marshall was not fond of the segregated Baltimore that he grew up in. But Gibson discovered the contrary. He said the justice dealt with the legal matter in about 15 minutes and then entertained the two lawyers with one story after another about growing up in the city. He asked them about a few people and certain buildings that were still standing, but mainly he just talked.
“I became fascinated with him. I got a different impression of him than what I heard from other people,” Gibson said. “So soon after that I started interviewing his contemporaries initially just to preserve it on the record on little cassettes — not knowing what I was going to do with this stuff — and I learned a lot about him.”
All of that knowledge is spread throughout the dorm. Like the third floor that Brown lives on, each floor has an enlarged black-and-white photograph with a brief synopsis about a case he argued during his career. Other cases referenced include Murray v. Pearson, where he desegregated Maryland’s School of Law in 1935 and Morgan v. Virginia, when he argued and won to end racial discrimination in transportation in 1946 .
When Gibson first started thinking about the design of the building, he thought about building off of what students might already know about Marshall: the fact that he was a Supreme Court judge and that he argued and won the case to desegregate schools in America. Next, he focused on “key cases and one single photograph that represented it,” for students to ponder as they get on and off the touch-free elevators.
“I bounced off some ideas and gave the architects a few options, and they said yes to everything — they were so cooperative,” Gibson said. “But even through the process when I looked at the drawings, I didn’t realize the size and how large the designs were going to be — the mural, timelines and photos are huge!”
Alexandria Wingate, a senior fine arts major, spent a year and half painting one of the murals, according to the student news site The Spokesman. The oil painting was originally done on a 30-inch by 20-inch canvas that was professionally photographed and printed to create the mural. The multi-shaded blue and white mural shows Marshall at three different stages in his life as a court justice. Marshall first became a justice in 1967. He died in February 1993.
The dormitory also features the university’s new campus dining hall. According to Gibson, the area has exhibits entitled “Thurgood Marshall’s Baltimore” and “Thurgood Marshall’s Maryland,” showcasing the places he frequented in his childhood while growing up in the city and where his work took him in the state.
The residence hall is the third project Gibson has led that features Marshall. He was also largely responsible for getting Baltimore officials to commission a statue at the federal courthouse on Pratt Street in 1980. He also helped, along with the late Congressman Elijah Cummings, get BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport renamed after the justice.
“For this particular building [the residence hall], I wanted to show the diversity of his career,” Gibson said.” And I am delighted that Morgan has established this enduring educational environment for its students with real information of [Marhsall’s] record. They will surely know more about him after living there,” Gibson jokingly added.
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