Thurgood Marshall’s story resonates at SC State as students, community share in history
Video: SC State's Amauri Allen sat down with Cecilia Marshall, granddaughter of civil rights icon Thurgood Marshall, before a screening of "Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect," a documentary film about the late U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Documentary screening sparks reflection with granddaughter Cecilia Marshall and civil rights voices
Now a South Carolina State University senior majoring in speech pathology and audiology, McIntosh often passed by a mural on a school wall depicting the late trailblazing attorney and U.S. Supreme Court justice.
On Wednesday night, McIntosh found himself part of a meaningful moment sitting alongside SC State faculty, staff, alumni and community members to see and hear Marshall’s perspective in his own words. SC State’s advance screening of the documentary “Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect” was held six days before the film’s premiere on PBS, so the audience was among the first to view it.
“This really means a lot to me just because you don't really get to do this every day,” said McIntosh, who serves as Mister SC State for the 2025-26 academic year. “I’m just here to gain as much knowledge as I can.”
The screening was followed by a panel discussion that featured Cecilia Marshall, granddaughter of the late civil rights icon.
“It's a pleasure to actually be in a place with Thurgood Marshall's granddaughter and just to be able to witness this film,” McIntosh said. “Because not a lot of people can witness this film in the capacity I'm going to witness it.”
The panel also included Cecil Williams, a local photographer who chronicled the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina; Vernon Burton, professor emeritus of history at Clemson University; and SC State President Alexander Conyers.
To open the screening, Conyers noted the presence of South Carolina families whose ancestors challenged school segregation in court. Including those who filed the 1948 case Pearson v. Clarendon County, which was dismissed on a technicality. The audience also included descendants of those involved in Briggs v. Elliott, another Clarendon County case that became part of the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education suit, which Marshall successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Marshall (1908–1993) was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Before his appointment by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, Marshall built a groundbreaking legal career with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He successfully argued 29 of the 32 cases he presented before the Supreme Court. Known as “Mr. Civil Rights,” Marshall devoted his career to expanding equality and protecting constitutional rights for all Americans.
A granddaughter’s perspective
Earlier at a pre-screening reception, Cecilia Marshall reflected on her family’s legacy and the role of HBCUs in shaping leaders.
“I think my grandfather was made at HBCUs,” she said. “I think going to Lincoln University, being classmates with (renowned author and activist) Langston Hughes … and then really having the mentor of Charles Hamilton Houston at Howard Law is how he became Mr. Civil Rights,” she said. “I think HBCUs have always been about community, and they were his community.
“And I think now more than ever, you know, students are craving that community and really, it's a time to just remember how important HBCUs are in our history,” she said.
Cecilia Marshall noted that while many only know her grandfather as the nation’s first African American Supreme Court justice, his impact was much broader as an attorney who argued numerous pivotal cases at the court.
“I think he is usually minimized to the first African-American Supreme Court justice or the Brown case,” she said. “But sometimes Brown’s not even mentioned with him. He was one of the Supreme Court justices who made a name for himself before rising to the bench and really fought for civil rights.”
A call to students: The next Thurgood Marshall?
Marshall’s granddaughter hopes the documentary inspires undergraduates who may still be searching for their direction
“Maybe there’s an undergraduate student who’s not sure what the right career path for them is,” she said. “They see this film and say, ‘Hey, I could go into civil rights law. I could be the next Thurgood Marshall,’” she said. “So, I think that’s my hope — that they see it and see a path to supporting their community in this way.”
Cecilia Marshall added that her mission is to ensure students continue learning about the civil rights battles her grandfather and others waged.
“Now more than ever, I’m trying to tell the story because it is my legacy to kind of make sure that students know,” she said. “But anytime they don’t know, I think it’s also about just talking about it. And once they hear, they’re usually generally fascinated about all the lawyers that were working on the cases.”
Cecil Williams’ role
Williams and his camera captured some of the most pivotal moments of South Carolina’s struggle for equality, including Briggs v. Elliott in Clarendon County. He also chronicled the events leading up to the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre, when tensions over segregation at a local bowling alley escalated into protests that ended in tragedy with the deaths of three students and injuries to 27 others on the SC State campus.
Williams continues to preserve this history through the Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg. The museum is set to relocate to the new Railroad Corner development now under construction across from the SC State campus.
About “Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect”
Wednesday’s screening was coordinated by SC State’s Division of Enrollment Management as part of HBCU Week NOW 2025, a public media partnership highlighting the history and cultural heritage of America’s HBCUs.
“Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect” draws from a rare eight-hour oral history to let Marshall narrate his own journey. Directed by Alexis Aggrey and executive produced by Stanley Nelson and Maryland Public Television Senior Vice President Travis Mitchell, the film follows Marshall from his Baltimore childhood through his years at Lincoln University and Howard University School of Law, his victories with the NAACP, and his time on the Supreme Court.