justice marshall was the director of the legal defense fund. there was no allegation linking legal defense fund or any of its employees to these allegations, this was a private lawyer but lots of time and energy and scrutiny took place. the committee complained at length, though, thurgood marshall had worked in new york for a long time he was at mitted to the maryland bar and not to the new york bar. he explained he practiced only in federal court, there was no requirement for him to be admitted to the bar of the state of new york. his membership in the national lawyer's guild received lots of scrutiny and there were efforts to suggest that he had or at some time had had communist sympathies. he explained he resigned from the national lawyer's guild in 1949 over the guild's criticism of the handling of a trial of an alleged communist. along the same line, the committee focused on the fact a former communist party member of texas had organized sitting on behalf of the naacp. he was also the -- because he's sitting very orderly unlike other sitti

as the executive director of the naacp legal and education defense fund, is a plague is attorney in brown v. board of education, as solicitor general, as a jurist on the second circuit and on the supreme court, you will be able to see the videos and hear thurgood marshall's voice arguing in the supreme court. you will have a sense of the impact on the worlds with which he interacted. students will be able to explore further the legacy of thurgood marshall when this spring we inaugurate on the fifth floor of this courthouse a state-of-the-art learning center, a civic education initiative. and you will be able to see in permanent ways the life of thurgood marshall. that is a project which i cochair with judge victor marrero of the southern district of new york. today, we are graced by representatives of the marshall family. his son, thurgood, jr., thurgood's wife, and his grandson. with great thanks to ira feinberg, we have an outstanding -- we have his former clerks. the program we are about to witness consists of a stellar assemblage, many of them are friends of mine of long-standing who