---
title: "Thurgood Marshall’s Former School Reimagined, With UMD’s Help"
date: 2024-07-01T00:00:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/thurgood-marshalls-former-school-reimagined-with-umds-help"
section: Articles
---
# Thurgood Marshall’s Former School Reimagined, With UMD’s Help

*July 1, 2024* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> UMD Facilities on Law, Gun Violence and Public Health Anchor New West Baltimore Center

*Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center 06282024 RS 3522 1920x1080 — Retired U.S. District Court Judge Alexander Williams, director of the UMD center that bears his name, sits in a restored classroom at the new Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center in West Baltimore. It is housed in historic P.S. 103, where the late U.S. Supreme Court justice attended elementary school.*

As an elementary school student at West Baltimore’s P.S. 103, young Thurgood Marshall was so rambunctious that his teachers often sent him to a quiet room in the basement, where he was instructed to read the U.S. Constitution. By the time he finished elementary school in 1921, the late U.S. Supreme Court justice later said, he’d memorized it.

Now, the historic building has taken on a new identity as a community gathering place, research hub and legal center that carries on his long-standing values, thanks in part to the University of Maryland. The Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center at P.S. 103 is anchored by the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. Center for Education, Justice and Ethics, which conducts research and offers programs on criminal justice issues.

A grand opening will be held Monday, the eve of what would have been Marshall’s 116th birthday. Scheduled guests include his son John Marshall, as well as former NBA star Carmelo Anthony and ambassadors from Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya.



*Man works in hallway of restored old school — Sarsfield Williams '94 was the project manager overseeing the transformation of the former P.S. 103 into the Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center. (Photo by Riley Sims Ph.D. ’23)*


*old school building exterior — Photo by Riley Sims Ph.D. ’23*



*old school image — Students play outside P.S. 103 in this undated picture. (Photo by Works Progress Administration, courtesy of Enoch Pratt Free Library)*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [African American Studies](https://today.umd.edu/topic/african-american-studies), [Health Policy and Management](https://today.umd.edu/topic/health-policy-and-management), [Gun Violence Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/gun-violence-research), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences), [School of Public Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-health)