Marshall was starting to see the advantages of working with other people. When an independent party asked him to consider a run for Congress in 1936, he was flattered and seriously interested. At the time there was only one black in Congress, Arthur Mitchell, an Illinois Democrat.
“The gang that has been trying to get me to run for Congress has just left the office,” Marshall wrote to Houston in New York in January 1936. “The fellow whom I thought was a communist has turned out not to be.… I am going to talk the matter over with Carl Murphy tomorrow. I have not decided finally as yet and want you to advise me once and for all as to just what you think is best.” 14
Houston advised Marshall in a telegram to accept the nomination and run for Congress but “avoid communism and personal expense.” 15 Marshall was not strongly anti-Communist. Living through the Depression led him to be curious about their efforts to build unions in Baltimore, and their outspoken sympathy for the working class, specifically black people. When Marshall had represented Bernard Ades, the Communistlawyer, he’d never voiced objection to Ade’s ideology—just to his courtroom antics.
While Houston gave Marshall the okay on a run for Congress as an independent, Murphy apparently was not so supportive. A staunch capitalist and small businessman, Mr. Carl told Marshall it was a waste of time to get involved with the left-wing economic crowd when he needed to build his law practice. Marshall decided against running.
However, he was still in the market for a steady paycheck and looking to get more work from the NAACP. He was no longer the young maverick, out to prove he could make it on his own. He even asked Leon Ransom, who was teaching at Howard Law, about getting a teaching job at his alma mater. In April of 1936 Ransom wrote to Marshall, in a letter warmly addressed “Dear No-Good,” that there would be two openings for the next school year. He offered a recommendation, as did Houston. But faculty politics, including a faction that resented Houston and saw Marshall as his protégé, put an end to any chance of Marshall joining the teaching staff.
By late May 1936 Marshall’s law practice was in serious trouble. He got letters from Prentice-Hall publishing company, complaining that he was six months late in paying his bill for law books. Sinking in debt, the persistent Marshall repeatedly tried to convince Houston to hire him. “The real problem mostly pertains to me,” Marshall wrote to Houston in New York. “As it stands things are getting worse and worse.… If there is a possibility I would appreciate it very much if I could be assured of enough to tide me over, then in return, I could do more on [NAACP] cases. For example, to prepare briefs and research, etc.… [on] the legal matters which you would need assistance on.” 16
Marshall was under severe pressure to bring money home. Aubrey had been unable to work regularly as a doctor for a few months because of a bad cold. And to make matters worse, Thurgood’s father had lost his job at the Gibson Island Club. Willie’s prickly personality had gotten him into a loud dispute with a white staff person at the club, which ended with Willie out of work.
“He ran it all until he got in the way of somebody who was white,” the son recalled later. “I mean after all, a Negro steward is a little high, you know, for a Negro.” Willie Marshall subsequently got a job at the
Afro-American
, with Thurgood’s help, but that job didn’t last long. “He was on the newspaper a month or so,” Marshall said, thinking back tothat time. “I mean he had a low boiling point, man. He’d quit at the drop of a hat for nothing.”
Unlike his father, the shrewd young lawyer did not blow his cool over his difficulty with people or jobs. He waited and planned, looking for the right moment to push for a contract with the national NAACP. That effort got a boost in the summer of 1936, when the
“The gang that has been trying to get me to run for Congress has just left the office,” Marshall wrote to Houston in New York in January 1936. “The fellow whom I thought was a communist has turned out not to be.… I am going to talk the matter over with Carl Murphy tomorrow. I have not decided finally as yet and want you to advise me once and for all as to just what you think is best.” 14
Houston advised Marshall in a telegram to accept the nomination and run for Congress but “avoid communism and personal expense.” 15 Marshall was not strongly anti-Communist. Living through the Depression led him to be curious about their efforts to build unions in Baltimore, and their outspoken sympathy for the working class, specifically black people. When Marshall had represented Bernard Ades, the Communistlawyer, he’d never voiced objection to Ade’s ideology—just to his courtroom antics.
While Houston gave Marshall the okay on a run for Congress as an independent, Murphy apparently was not so supportive. A staunch capitalist and small businessman, Mr. Carl told Marshall it was a waste of time to get involved with the left-wing economic crowd when he needed to build his law practice. Marshall decided against running.
However, he was still in the market for a steady paycheck and looking to get more work from the NAACP. He was no longer the young maverick, out to prove he could make it on his own. He even asked Leon Ransom, who was teaching at Howard Law, about getting a teaching job at his alma mater. In April of 1936 Ransom wrote to Marshall, in a letter warmly addressed “Dear No-Good,” that there would be two openings for the next school year. He offered a recommendation, as did Houston. But faculty politics, including a faction that resented Houston and saw Marshall as his protégé, put an end to any chance of Marshall joining the teaching staff.
By late May 1936 Marshall’s law practice was in serious trouble. He got letters from Prentice-Hall publishing company, complaining that he was six months late in paying his bill for law books. Sinking in debt, the persistent Marshall repeatedly tried to convince Houston to hire him. “The real problem mostly pertains to me,” Marshall wrote to Houston in New York. “As it stands things are getting worse and worse.… If there is a possibility I would appreciate it very much if I could be assured of enough to tide me over, then in return, I could do more on [NAACP] cases. For example, to prepare briefs and research, etc.… [on] the legal matters which you would need assistance on.” 16
Marshall was under severe pressure to bring money home. Aubrey had been unable to work regularly as a doctor for a few months because of a bad cold. And to make matters worse, Thurgood’s father had lost his job at the Gibson Island Club. Willie’s prickly personality had gotten him into a loud dispute with a white staff person at the club, which ended with Willie out of work.
“He ran it all until he got in the way of somebody who was white,” the son recalled later. “I mean after all, a Negro steward is a little high, you know, for a Negro.” Willie Marshall subsequently got a job at the
Afro-American
, with Thurgood’s help, but that job didn’t last long. “He was on the newspaper a month or so,” Marshall said, thinking back tothat time. “I mean he had a low boiling point, man. He’d quit at the drop of a hat for nothing.”
Unlike his father, the shrewd young lawyer did not blow his cool over his difficulty with people or jobs. He waited and planned, looking for the right moment to push for a contract with the national NAACP. That effort got a boost in the summer of 1936, when the
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