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Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn in on January 20, 2021, with her hand on a Bible belonging to Thurgood Marshall. 

On June 13, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first African-American to serve on the nation's highest court.

Marshall grew up in Baltimore during the Jim Crow era, facing discrimination almost everywhere he went. He learned to pick his battles carefully, but vowed at a young age that he would work to make sure the generation after him would not have to put up with the hateful comments and treatment he suffered.

 looks at Marshall's fight for equality from childhood to his appointment to the Supreme Court.

Produced by APM's Stephen Smith and Kate Ellis.

To listen to the documentary, click the audio player above.

“Thurgood Marshall Before the Court,” and APM documentary by Stephen Smith and Kate Ellis.

Listen to an APM Reports documentary, "Thurgood Marshall Before the Court." Fifty years ago today, June 13, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall to the US Supreme Court. He was the first African-American to serve on the nation's highest court.

APM documentary: Thurgood Marshall Before the Court

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