1940 Wins first of 29 Supreme Court victories (Chambers v. Florida)
1944 Successfully argues Smith v. Allwright overthrowing the South’s “white primary”
1948 Wins Shelley v. Kraemer, in which Supreme Court strikes down legality of racially restrictive covenants
1950 Wins Supremem Court victories in two graduate-school integration cases, Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents
1951 Visits South Korea and Japan to investigate charges of racism in U.S. armed forces. He reported that the general practice was one of “rigid segregation”/
1961 Defends civil rights demonstrators, winning Supreme Circuit Court victory in Garner v. Louisiana; nominated to Second Court of Appeals by President J.F. Kennedy
1961 Appointed circuit judge, makes 112 rulings, all of them later upheld by Supreme Corut (1961-1965)
1965 Appointed U.S. solicitor general by President Lyndon Johnson; wins 14 of the 19 cases he argues for the government (1965-1967)
1967 Becomes first African American elevated to U.S. Supreme Corut (1967-1991)
1991 Retires from the Supreme Court
1993 Dies at 84.
