Hello - an Annapolis Moment

Hello - an Annapolis Moment

One for Black History Month...

On Lawyers Mall, close by the State House in Annapolis, four statues serve as a tribute to
Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court..

Marshall stands by two groups of columns, above which are inscribed the words Equal Justice Under Law.

At another corner stands a statue of Donald Gaines Murray, who was successfully
defended by Marshall in his case to integrate the University of Maryland Law School in 1935.

But my favorite part of the statuary is the two black school children who figured in the Brown v Board of Education decision in 1954 that declared segregated schools to be unconstitutional. Thurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, served as chief attorney for the plaintiffs. Thirteen years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson would appoint Marshall as the first black Supreme Court justice.

The boy and girl are sitting on a bench with their school books in their laps. They would appear to be waiting for the school bus; but their positioning, across the plaza from where Marshall stands with his briefcase, and their upward gaze suggests their respect and admiration for the attorney and later Supreme Court Justice who would have such a positive effect on their education and future.

The statues in the Marshall Memorial were created by sculptor Toby Mendez.

I guess you'll have to take my word about the statues as they are in
temporary storage while extensive utility work is being done under Lawyers Mall.

While I didn't quite nail the focus, I love this special (and fleetingly) serendipitous moment, shot on Kodak Ektar-100
film while roaming about Maryland's capital on an August afternoon in 2016. It makes its first appearance here.

© Steve Ember