Thurgood Marshall elected to Supreme Court

"In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute."

On this day in 1967, Justice Thurgood Marshall was confirmed to the nation’s highest court as America’s first Black Supreme Court justice. He served 24 years before he retired in 1991.

Prior to his nomination by President Johnson, Justice Marshall practiced law — mainly litigating civil rights cases. He argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court and won 29 of them; one of his landmark victories was Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which ended segregation in schools. He stated, “this Court should make it clear that this is not what our Constitution stands for.”