United States Supreme Court Justices
Hugo Black, aged 65 from Clay County, Alabama. Simple Justice, p.587.
Harold Burton (?-1958), aged 64, from Cleveland, Ohio. Simple Justice, p.587, 610. Justice Burton’s 1953 term clerk was Raymond S. Trobh. Simple Justice, p.610.
Tom Clark came from Dallas, Texas and joined the court in 1949. Simple Justice, p.587
William Douglas came from Minnesota but grew up in Yakima, Washington, Simple Justice, p.587-88.
Felix Frankfurter, age 69 came from Massachusetts. Simple Justice, p.587. In the Summer of 1953, Justice Frankfurter’s clerk was Alexander Bickel a Harvard Law School graduate. Simple Justice. p.614, 653.
Robert Jackson, aged 60, came from New York. Simple Justice, p.587, 603. “Jackson’s 1953 Term clerk” was E. Barret Prettyman, Jr. His 1952 clerks were William H. Rehnquist and Donald Cronson a Chicago Law School graduate. Simple Justice p.605.
Sherman Minton joined the Court in 1949 and came from Indiana. Simple Justice, p.585,7
Stanley Reed from Kentucky, Simple Justice, p.587. Justice Reed’s summer 1953 clerk was John Fassett. Simple Justice, p.655.
The United States Supreme Court was led by the 62 year old Chief Justice Fred Vinson (?-1953) from Kentucky until he died of a heart attack on Sept. 8, 1953. Simple Justice, p.584.
A new Chief Justice was
sworn in 1953.
Earl Warren (1891-1974). Born in Los Angeles, CA, Former District Attorney and Governor of California. Chief Justice from 1953-1969. www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/88/
New Justice
John M. Harlan (1929-1971) was sworn in on March 28, 1955. He was born in Illinois. Formerly a judge on the 2nd Circuit Ct. of Appeals and Asst. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY.
1954 Warren Court |
Commissioned |
Sworn in |
|
Hugo L. Black |
Aug. 18, 1937 |
Aug. 19, 1937 |
|
Stanley Reed |
Jan. 27, 1938 |
Jan. 31, 1938 |
|
Felix Frankfurter |
Jan. 20, 1939 |
Jan. 30, 1939 |
|
William O. Douglas |
Apr. 15, 1939 |
Apr. 17, 1939 |
|
Robert H. Jackson |
July 11, 1941 |
July 11, 1941 |
|
Harold Burton |
Sept. 22, 1945 |
Oct. 1, 1945 |
|
Fred M. Vinson |
June 21, 1946 |
June 24, 1946 |
|
Tom C. Clark |
Aug. 19, 1949 |
Aug. 24, 1949 |
|
Sherman Minton |
Oct. 5, 1949 |
Oct. 12, 1949 |
|
Earl Warren |
Oct. 2, 1953 |
Oct. 5, 1953 |
The information on this chart is available at www.oyez.org
Additional information about the individual judges is available in the primary “Brown” binder.
See also:
Davis, Abraham L. and Graham, Barbara Luck. The Warren Court. The Supreme Court, Race,
and Civil Rights. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1995.