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. … it is a cause of profound satisfaction to me that in [then-] Judge Marshall we shall have an advocate whose lifelong concern has been the pursuit of justice for his fellow man.”
Johnson also noted, “Marshall is already in the front ranks of the great lawyers of this generation. He has argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court; he has won 29 of them. And that is a batting average of .900.”
Justice Marshall went on to serve on the Court for 24 years.
Justice Marshall’s legacy is such that many governments and institutions have honored him by erecting statues and naming buildings after him. In Marshall’s native state of Maryland, the city of Baltimore put up a statue in his honor in front of the federal courthouse. There is a statue of him in front of the Maryland State House and Maryland's international airport was renamed in his honor. Near Union Station in Washington, D.C., the Federal Judiciary Building, home of the Training Division and Defender Services, is named for him.
He was a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.