This week in Black history

Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court on this day. Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Marshall served from 1967 through 1991. He also was the first Black to serve as U.S. Solicitor General. Marshall was born in Baltimore on July 2, 1908, and graduated from Howard University Law School in 1933. Shortly after, he was admitted to the Maryland bar and practiced privately in Baltimore from 1933 through 1937. An expert on civil rights cases, he was special counsel for the NAACP and counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He prevailed in 29 cases, including the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that banned the "separate but equal" policy in public education, virtually wiping out the century-old segregation pattern of the nation in education, housing, and employment. Marshall died January 24, 1993, in Bethesda, MD, at the age of 82.

September 1, 1975-

Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. was promoted to the rank of four-star general in the Air Force on this day. Gen. James was the first Black to be promoted to that rank in any of the U.S. military branches. A fighter pilot, he was a native of Pensacola, FL. He studied physical education at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, AL, and later began his military career there as a Tuskegee Airman. James flew over 160 missions in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. James received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the air medal with seven clusters, the Distinguished Unit Citations, the Presidential Unit Citation and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. He died February 25, 1978.