History of Africa

Who led the NAACP legal defense fund?

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) was led by Thurgood Marshall, who served as the organization's first director-counsel from 1940 to 1961. Marshall was a prominent civil rights attorney and jurist who later became the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Under Marshall's leadership, the LDF played a crucial role in fighting segregation and discrimination against African Americans through litigation, advocacy, and public education. The organization brought groundbreaking cases to the Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Marshall's leadership and legal expertise were instrumental in shaping the LDF's success in advancing the civil rights movement and achieving significant victories for racial justice and equality in the United States.