Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2nd in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908. His father was a porter or waiter for a railroad company and his mother was an elementary school teacher. They were very involved in teaching their children and, reportedly, Thurgood’s father would take him down to the courthouse in Baltimore just to view court proceedings.  His mother, being a schoolteacher, oversaw her children's development and made sure they got good educational foundations in school.