H.R. 1718 — Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2025

This section sets forth congressional findings on Justice Thurgood Marshall's legal career—including leading the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (1940-1961), arguing 29 of 32 civil rights cases before the Supreme Court (including Brown v. Board of Education), serving as a federal appeals judge (1961-1965), U.S. Solicitor General (1965-1967), and Supreme Court Associate Justice (1967-1991)—and on the Justice Thurgood Marshall School (formerly Public School 103) in Baltimore, Maryland, his elementary school, which a 2023 National Park Service special resource study deemed nationally significant and suitable for the National Park System. The section states the Act's purpose to preserve, protect, and interpret Marshall's contributions by establishing the school as a national historic site administered as an affiliated area of the National Park System.

This section defines, for purposes of the Act, (1) National Historic Site as the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site established by section 4; (2) School as the building located at 1315 Division Street in Baltimore, Maryland, known as Public School 103 and owned and managed by the Beloved Community Services Corporation; and (3) Secretary as the Secretary of the Interior.

This section establishes the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site as an affiliated area of the National Park System, consisting 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. The site is to be owned, operated, and managed by the Beloved Community Services Corporation, designated as the management entity, in a manner consistent with this Act and laws generally applicable to units of the National Park System. The Secretary may provide technical assistance and enter into cooperative agreements with the management entity to support marketing, marking, interpretation, and preservation of the site and must enter into an agreement delineating roles and responsibilities consistent with National Park System policies and standards. The Secretary is not authorized to acquire the property at 1315 Division Street or assume overall financial responsibility for the site's operation, maintenance, or management.