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Postage stamp honors Thurgood Marshall
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American on the U.S. Supreme Court, was honored Tuesday with a postage stamp, marking his enormous achievements in the civil rights movement and the judiciary. Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Marshall's widow, Cecilia, were among those attending a ceremony in the federal judiciary building named in Marshall's honor. Postmaster General John Potter said the stamp "is a fitting tribute to a man who left an indelible mark upon the law of this country." The 37-cent commemorative shows a photograph of Marshall in his judicial robes, taken shortly after he became an associate justice. It is the 26th stamp in the Postal Service's annual Black Heritage Series, and is now available at most post offices nationwide. Marshall was a longtime chief counsel with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and arguably the leading civil rights attorney in the country at the time. He successfully argued the 1954 landmark Brown v. the Board of Education case before the Supreme Court, which declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. He also led the NAACP's fight against racial discrimination in housing, public accommodations and education. He was nominated by President Johnson to the Supreme Court in 1967, despite strong opposition from many prominent Southern senators on the Judiciary Committee. His 24 years on the bench were notable for his support of affirmative action and abortion rights, and his opposition to the death penalty. He died in 1993, two years after retiring from the court.
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