Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Could Episcopalians soon be celebrating the Feast of St. Thurgood?The Episcopal Diocese of Washington is to consider a resolution this Friday recommending that the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall be considered a saint. A press release from the diocese said: "If the resolution passes, and is approved by consecutive meetings of the Church's national convention, Episcopal churches will have the opportunity to celebrate May 17 as Marshall's feast day." On that date in 1954, Marshall, who was later to become the first black Supreme Court justice, won the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case. He...

Baltimore Airport Renamed for Marshall By GRETCHEN PARKER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 20 minutes ago ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The governor signed a bill Tuesday renaming Baltimore-Washington International Airport for Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Beginning Oct. 1, the airport will be known as Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed the bill as civil rights leaders and lawmakers looked on. "Our purpose is to honor a great mind who did the most to end legal segregation in America," said state Delegate Emmett Burns, a Baptist minister who introduced the bill.

Weighing in at six words, 55 letters and a tongue-twisting 17 syllables, the proposed new name for BWI Airport, everyone seems to agree, is an orthographical behemoth. Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport -- the name proposed in legislation making its way through the Maryland General Assembly -- would, few dispute, appropriately honor one of Maryland's most revered sons. The change would cost the state at least $2.1 million, according to preliminary estimates.