What was Thurgood Marshall's major contribution to civil rights prior to joining the Supreme Court?

• A. He drafted the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• B. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• C. He argued key cases as head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, culminating in Brown v. Board.
• D. He organized the March on Washington.

Answer: (C)

Marshall's major contribution before joining the Supreme Court was leading the legal fight against segregation through the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. As its chief counsel, he organized and argued key civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, culminating in Brown v. Board of Education, which combined several cases to challenge the legality of segregated public schools and held that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal under the Fourteenth Amendment. This work established a legal path for desegregation and set the foundation for later civil rights litigation. The other options describe important civil rights actions, but they reflect political activism or legislation led by others, not Marshall’s pre-Supreme Court legal strategy and victories.