October 2

October 2, 1967 – Thurgood Marshall  Becomes A Supreme Court Justice

On October 2, 1967, one hundred and two years after the end of slavery, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African American Supreme Court Justice in the United States.

Thurgood Marshall was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson on June 13, 1967.  On August 30, 1967 Marshall was confirmed by a Senate vote of 69-11 to become the first African American Supreme Court Associate Justice.  He served as an Associate Justice for 24 years from October 2, 1967 until October 1, 1991.   Marshall died at age 84 in Bethesda, Maryland on January 24, 1993.

In this telephone conversation on July 7, 1965, almost two years prior to Thurgood Marshall’s nomination for Supreme Court Justice, President Johnson ask him to become Solicitor General.