P.S. 103 Special Resource Study Newsletter

The National Park Service (NPS) is pleased to announce the launch of a special resource study of Public School 103 (P.S. 103), the elementary school of former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, located at 1315 Division Street, Baltimore, Maryland.

P.S. 103 was originally built in 1877 for West Baltimore's white immigrant population, but in 1911 it became a segregated African-American school. Thurgood Marshall attended P.S. 103 from 1st through 8th grade, from 1914 to 1921. In adulthood, Marshall became the lead council for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a leading civil rights lawyer, and the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of P.S. 103 and any other resources in the neighborhood surrounding P.S. 103 that relate to the early life of Thurgood Marshall. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the study resources' national significance and determine their suitability and feasibility of designating them as a unit of the national park system.

As we begin the special resource study, we would like to engage the public in discussions about P.S. 103 and any other resources in the neighborhood surrounding P.S. 103 that relate to the early life of Thurgood Marshall. The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners is our priority. The National Park Service (NPS) is working with the federal, state, and local authorities to closely monitor the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Public meetings will be held at a later date to receive the public's ideas and opinions about the site.

The National Park Service will evaluate the property using congressionally established criteria for national significance, suitability, feasibility, and need for direct NPS management. Based on the analysis, the National Park Service will determine whether the site meets the criteria for inclusion in the national park system and will prepare the study for the Secretary of Interior. The Secretary will then submit the findings and a recommendation to Congress.

We hope you will take time to let us know your thoughts by answering the four questions listed below. Click on "Comment Now" to respond. Thank you for your feedback!

Topic Questions:

1. How would you feel about the P.S. 103 building potentially becoming a national park unit that would focus on Thurgood Marshall, particularly his early life?

2. Are there places and historic resources in the neighborhood surrounding P.S. 103 related to the early life of Thurgood Marshall that the NPS special resources study team should know about?

3. Are you aware of documents (letters, diary entries, photographs, newspaper articles, etc.) not publicly available that relate to Marshall's early life, meaning while he was a student in Baltimore City schools?

4. Do you have any other comments, concerns, or suggestions about this study?

Document Content:

Marshall_SRS_Newsletter_508_03-15-2021.pdf   (2.2 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.