February 27, 2025
Mr. Van Hollen (for himself and Ms. Alsobrooks) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
To establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes
(a) Findings
Congress finds that—
(1)
Thurgood Marshall—
(A)
led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 1940 to 1961; and
(B)
successfully argued 29 of 32 civil rights cases before the United States Supreme Court, including the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case that ended racial segregation of public schools;
(2)
President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit from 1961 to 1965;
(3)
President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to serve as United States Solicitor General from 1965 to 1967;
(4)
nominated by President Lyndon Johnson and confirmed by the Senate, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court, serving as an Associate Justice from 1967 to 1991;
(5)
as a result of his long legal career, Thurgood Marshall is credited with ending legal segregation in the United States;
(6)
Public School 103, now known as the Justice Thurgood Marshall School
, located at 1315 Division Street in Baltimore, Maryland, was the site of the elementary education of Thurgood Marshall;
(7)
the Justice Thurgood Marshall School is owned and operated as a museum by the Beloved Community Services Corporation, which has completed a historic restoration for adaptive reuse of the School;
(8)
Congress authorized the National Park Service to prepare a special resource study of Public School 103 in 2019 which was transmitted by the National Park Service to Congress in 2023; and
(9)
in the special resource study referred to in paragraph (8), the National Park Service found that Public School 103 met the criteria for national significance and suitability for addition to the National Park System.
(b) Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to preserve, protect, and interpret for the benefit of future generations the significant historic contributions of Justice Thurgood Marshall by—
(1)
establishing the elementary school attended by Marshall as a national historic site; and
(2)
providing for the administration of the National Historic Site as an affiliated area of the National Park System.
Sec. 3. Definitions
In this Act:
(1) Management entity
The term management entity
means the management entity for the National Historic Site designated by section 4(e).
(2) National historic site
The term National Historic Site means the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site established by section 4(a).
(3) School
The term School means the building located at 1315 Division Street in Baltimore, Maryland, known as Public School 103, which is owned and managed by the Beloved Community Services Corporation, a nonprofit organization established in Baltimore, Maryland.
(4) Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec. 4. Establishment of the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site
(a) In general
There is established as an affiliated area of the National Park System the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site.
(b) Boundary
The National Historic Site shall consist of the School, as generally depicted on the map entitled Justice Thurgood Marshall School National Historic Site Proposed Boundary
, numbered 962/194939, and dated September 2024.
(c) Ownership
The School shall continue to be owned, operated, and managed by the Beloved Community Services Corporation.
(d) Administration
The National Historic Site shall be managed in a manner consistent with—
(1)
this Act; and
(2)
the laws generally applicable to units of the National Park System.
(e) Management entity
The Beloved Community Services Corporation shall be the management entity for the National Historic Site.
(f) Agreements
The Secretary—
(1)
may provide technical assistance to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, the management entity for the purpose of providing financial assistance for the marketing, marking, interpretation, and preservation of the National Historic Site; and
(2)
shall enter into an agreement with the management entity that delineates the roles and responsibilities for the management of the area consistent with the policies and standards that apply to units of the National Park System.
(g) Limited role of the secretary
Nothing in this Act authorizes the Secretary—
(1)
to acquire the School; or
(2)
to assume overall financial responsibility for the operation, maintenance, or management of the National Historic Site.
Sec. 5. Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.