Oliver and Linda Brown
Oliver Brown was a welder and assistant pastor whose daughter Linda was in the third grade when he joined in a lawsuit aimed at integrating her school district. Brown’s name is associated with this famous case simply because it was alphabetically first in the list of plaintiffs. After Brown, Linda attended integrated schools through college and has continued to speak out against segregation.
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was chief counsel for the NAACP, representing Brown and his fellow plaintiffs before the Court. He argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning twenty-nine and earning the nickname “Mr. Civil Rights.” In 1967, Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court justice (1967 – 1991).
Chief Justice Earl Warren
Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was a California lawyer, prosecutor and governor who became chief justice of the Supreme Court (1953 – 1969). He led the “Warren Court” in enacting a series of decisions, including Brown, that transformed parts of American law.