Who became the 1st African American to sit on the Supreme Court?
Asked by: Maverick Hudson | Last update: December 8, 2025Score: 4.3/5 (29 votes)
Who was the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court?
Justice Thurgood Marshall: First African American Supreme Court Justice. On June 13, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated distinguished civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall to be the first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Who was the first African in the Supreme Court?
Thurgood Marshall became the first African-American to take the oath of office as a Supreme Court Justice on October 2, 1967. President Johnson observed, “Thurgood Marshall symbolizes what is best about our American society: the belief that human rights must be satisfied through the orderly processes of law. …
Who was the 1st African American to be serve on the United States Supreme Court appointed by President Lyndon Johnson?
Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall, a longtime civil rights attorney for the NAACP, to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat of retiring justice Tom C. Clark. Marshall became the first African American in history to sit on America's highest court when his nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 30, 1967.
Who is the first black woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice?
As the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says her appointment to the court "demonstrates progress." "I'm the first Black woman ... but not the first Black woman who could have done this job," she tells PBS News' Geoff Bennett.
First African-American to serve on the Supreme Court
Who was the second black justice of the Supreme Court?
Eventually, the Senate confirmed Thomas in October 1991 by the narrowest margin in a century. Clarence Thomas is the second black justice to serve on the Court. As a Supreme Court justice, Thomas is notorious for his lack of questions during oral arguments.
Who was the first woman to be on the U.S. Supreme Court?
As the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, Sandra Day O'Connor became an inspiration to millions.
Who is the black man on the Supreme Court?
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H. W. Bush nominated him to succeed Thurgood Marshall.
Is Thurgood Marshall dead?
After nomination by President Lyndon B. Johnson and confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Marshall served as Associate Justice from 1967-1991. He retired from the bench in 1991 and passed away on January 24, 1993 in Washington, D.C. at the age of 84.
Who was the first Latino to sit on the Supreme Court?
Sonia Sotomayor (born June 25, 1954, Bronx, New York, U.S.) associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 2009. She was the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Was Thurgood Marshall half white?
Answer and Explanation: Thurgood Marshall identified as African-American. In the 1910 U.S. Census, he was living with his parents in the house of his aunt and uncle in New York City.
Who was the first black state judge?
The first state in the nation to have a Black supreme court justice was South Carolina, where Jonathan Jasper Wright took office in 1870. After that, the next Black state supreme court justice was Harold A. Stevens on the State of New York Court of Appeals in 1955.
Who was the first black to be seated on the Supreme Court?
On August 30, 1967, the Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first Black person to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.
Who was the first person on the Supreme Court?
The First Supreme Court
As stipulated by the Judiciary Act of 1789, there was one Chief Justice, John Jay, and five Associate Justices: James Wilson, William Cushing, John Blair, John Rutledge and James Iredell.
Who refused to give up her seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama?
Today marks the anniversary of Rosa Parks' decision to sit down for her rights on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, putting the effort to end segregation on a fast track.
Was Thurgood Marshall's wife black?
Cecilia Suyat Marshall (July 20, 1928 – November 22, 2022) was an American civil rights activist and historian from Hawaii who was married to Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, from 1955 until his death in 1993. She was of Filipino descent.
Was Thurgood Marshall an FBI informant?
The FBI, Marshall thought, might help shield the NAACP in exchange for information about communists (and, perhaps, focus on other organizations instead). And so he began feeding select information to the bureau.
Who was the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court?
Sandra Day O'Connor: First Woman on the Supreme Court - Appointment to the Supreme Court.
Who was the first black federal judge?
William Henry Hastie, Jr. William Henry Hastie, Jr. was the first African American to be appointed as a federal district court judge and also the first African American to be appointed as a federal appellate judge. Hastie was also the first African American Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Who was the first justice to get impeached from the Supreme Court?
Has a Justice ever been impeached? The only Justice to be impeached was Associate Justice Samuel Chase in 1805. The House of Representatives passed Articles of Impeachment against him; however, he was acquitted by the Senate.
Who is the famous lady judge?
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg (/ˈbeɪdər ˈɡɪnzbɜːrɡ/ BAY-dər GHINZ-burg; née Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020.
Who was the longest serving Supreme Court justice?
The longest serving Justice was William O. Douglas who served for 36 years, 7 months, and 8 days from 1939 to 1975. Which Associate Justice served the shortest Term? John Rutledge served the shortest tenure as an Associate Justice at one year and 18 days, from 1790 to 1791.