Who was the first Black Supreme Court lawyer?

Asked by: Herminio Rempel  |  Last update: December 5, 2025
Score: 5/5 (48 votes)

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.

What famous attorney became the first black Supreme Court Justice?

Thurgood Marshall was a civil rights lawyer who used the courts to fight Jim Crow and dismantle segregation in the U.S. Marshall was a towering figure who became the nation's first Black United States Supreme Court Justice.

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 African American to become a Supreme Court Justice?

On October 2, 1967, Thurgood Marshall took the judicial oath of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Black person to serve on the Court. Marshall's paternal grandfather had been enslaved, and systemic racism remained widespread when Marshall was born.

What happened to Thurgood Marshall in 1967?

In 1965, Lyndon Johnson appointed him to the post of Solicitor General (this person argues cases on behalf of the U.S. government before the Supreme Court; it is the third highest office in the Justice Department). Finally, in 1967, President Johnson appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who was the first black Supreme Court justice? | Thurgood Marshall | Justice Thurgood Marshall |

16 related questions found

What was Thurgood Marshall's famous quote?

Thurgood Marshall Quotes
  • Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. ...
  • None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. ...
  • Each of you, as an individual, must pick your own goals.

Has a justice ever been removed from the Supreme Court?

The Constitution states that Justices "shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour." This means that the Justices hold office as long as they choose and can only be removed from office by impeachment. Has a Justice ever been impeached? The only Justice to be impeached was Associate Justice Samuel Chase in 1805.

Who was the famous black judge woman?

Black History Month Spotlight: Constance Baker Motley, First Black Female Federal Judge. Constance Baker Motley was the first Black woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, and in 1966, became the first to serve as a federal judge.

Who was the first black U.S. senator?

Hiram Revels: A Featured Biography. Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American senator in 1870. Born in North Carolina in 1827, Revels attended Knox College in Illinois and later served as minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

What college denied Thurgood admission to law school?

In 1930, Thurgood Marshall was denied admission to the University of Maryland based on his race.

Did Thurgood Marshall have 2 wives?

Suyat met Thurgood Marshall, then married him in 1955 after Marshall's previous wife, Vivian Burey, died of lung cancer. Suyat married Marshall on December 17, 1955. Roy Wilkins, who was secretary of the NAACP, presided over the service at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Harlem, New York.

Who was the first female justice?

As the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, Sandra Day O'Connor became an inspiration to millions. Unless otherwise noted, all images are from the Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Was Thurgood Marshall born into slavery?

Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law.

Who was the longest serving justice on the scotus?

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.

Who was the first black man to become a lawyer?

Macon Bolling Allen (1816-1894)

Considered to be both the first African American attorney to practice law in the United States and to hold a judicial position, Macon Bolling Allen broke numerous barriers.

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.

Who was the first black Republican?

On February 25, 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels was seated as the first black member of the Senate, while Blanche Bruce, also of Mississippi, seated in 1875, was the second. Revels was the first black member of the Congress overall.

Where did most free African Americans live in the South?

In fact, more free blacks lived in the South than in the North; roughly 261,000 lived in slave states, while 226,000 lived in northern states without slavery. Most free blacks did not live in the Lower, or Deep South: the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.

Who was the first African-born person in Congress?

A freeman his entire life, Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. With his moderate political orientation and oratorical skills honed from years as a preacher, Revels filled a vacant seat in the United States Senate in 1870.

Who is the most famous black lawyer?

Thurgood Marshall

Perhaps none are more famous than his victory in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, which overturned the “separate but equal” statute in public education established in Plessy v. Ferguson. He was nominated by President Lyndon B.

Who is the Black woman judge?

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is out with a new memoir chronicling her family's rise from segregation to her confirmation as the first Black woman on the nation's highest court, all in a single generation. Geoff Bennett sat down with Justice Jackson in New York to discuss "Lovely One."

Who is the most famous lawyer of all time?

#1 Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was an American politician, and lawyer who became the 16th president of the United States of America. He passed the bar in 1836 in Springfield, Illinois, and began working under his wife's cousin, John T.

What two presidents have been impeached?

The presidents impeached by the House were:
  • Andrew Johnson in 1868.
  • William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton in 1998.
  • Donald John Trump in 2019 and 2021.

Has a federal judge ever been assassinated?

John H. Wood Jr. was appointed by President Richard Nixon to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He was assassinated on May 29, 1979, by Charles Harrelson in the parking lot outside Wood's home in San Antonio, Texas.