history
P R ES E RV I N G H I STO RY
The story behind how Thurgood Marshall Elementary got its name ›
T
Story by ELIZABETH UCLÉS | Photography by JESSICA TURNER
he history behind how Richardson ISD’s Thurgood Marshall Elementary got its name is just as important today as it was 16 years ago. “I think people kind of walk away from things after they’ve been in place for a number of years. But the fact is that (Thurgood Marshall) represents the quintessential as it relates to justice,” says former RISD trustee David Tyson. Tyson, who was an RISD trustee for two terms, played a key role in the school’s naming before its 2005 opening. RISD traditionally names schools after the area they reside in, so TME was to be named Ferris Creek Elementary. At a board meeting prior to the opening, a trustee mentioned the school would likely be the last built in the district, and RISD still had not named a school in honor of an African American. The board president at the time initiated an ad-hoc committee to decide on a name. Tyson was the first Black board member in RISD. He started his first term as trustee
in 2004. The ad-hoc group considered a few local Black leaders for the school’s name, but Thurgood Marshall was suggested that year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. Marshall was a lawyer and civil rights activist who served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 to 1991. “Whenever you’re the first of anything, there’s always some type of hesitancy, in terms of how people will receive you and how people will perceive you,” he says. “What was also going through my head was: ‘How will people perceive and receive Thurgood Marshall?’” The group also kept the school’s community in mind when choosing a name. “This school, in terms of where it’s located, (serves) a large African American population,” Tyson says. The name was presented to and approved by the board. The consensus was that Mar-
10 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MAY 2021
shall’s fight for equal rights and justice in education should be honored in the district. “This was a good way to recognize what had happened 50 years ago,” Tyson says. “And it also recognized what was happening then in RISD with the district having its first person of color elected to the board.” “We’re Thurgood Marshall strong” is the first thing that comes to TME principal Charmaine Curtis’ mind when she thinks about the school. Marshall’s impact on education for African American students motivates her to hold the school to a high standard. “I want to make sure our school is reflective of that same high regard and that students understand the privilege that they have to attend a school called Thurgood Marshall,” she says. Curtis and the rest of TME’s staff work together to live up to Marshall’s impact through elevated school operations, academic achievement, character building and overcoming challenges. “The goal is to build up that strength in
