Hugo Black, Associate Justice 1937-1971.
Hugo L. Black was born in Harlan, Alabama, on February 27, 1886. He entered Birmingham Medical College in 1903, but after one year transferred to the University of Alabama Law School. He received his law degree in 1906. He was admitted to the bar and established a law practice in Ashland, Alabama. The following year, a fire destroyed his office and library, and Black moved to Birmingham. In 1911, he became a part-time police court judge, and in 1914 he was elected Public Prosecutor for Jefferson County. After military service in World War I, Black returned to his Birmingham law practice. In 1927, he was elected to the United States Senate and was re-elected six years later. In 1933, Black introduced legislation providing for a 30-hour work week which, as amended, became the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Black to the Supreme Court of the United States on August 12, 1937, and the Senate confirmed the appointment five days later. Black retired from the Supreme Court on September 17, 1971, after thirty-four years of service. He died on September 25, 1971, at the age of eighty-five.

Harold H. Burton, Associate Justice 1945-1958.
Harold H. Burton was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, on June 22, 1888. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1909 and from Harvard Law School in 1912. After law school, Burton moved to Ohio, engaged in private practice for two years, and then worked for a public utility in Utah for two years. When the United States entered World War I, Burton was working as counsel for an Idaho public utility. He served in an infantry regiment of the United States Army, and at the end of the War returned to Cleveland and private law practice. Burton was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1929 and the same year was named the Director of Law for the City of Cleveland. After serving a brief term as acting Mayor of Cleveland from 1931 to 1932, he was elected Mayor in 1935 and was twice re-elected. In 1941, Burton was elected to the United States Senate where he served four years. President Harry S. Truman nominated Burton to the Supreme Court on September 19, 1945, and the Senate confirmed the appointment the same day. Burton retired from the Supreme Court on October 13, 1958, after thirteen years of service. He died on October 28, 1964, at the age of seventy-six.

Tom C. Clark, Associate Justice 1949-1967.
Tom C. Clark was born on September 23, 1899, in Dallas, Texas. Following military service in World War I, Clark enrolled in the University of Texas, and received his law degree in 1922. Clark practiced law in Dallas until 1927, when he was appointed Civil District Attorney of the City. After serving five years he resumed his law practice. In 1937, Clark was appointed a Special Assistant in the Justice Department, and promoted to Assistant Attorney General in 1943. President Harry S. Truman appointed Clark Attorney General of the United States in 1945, and he served in that position until 1949. On August 2, 1949, President Truman nominated Clark to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on August 18,1949. Clark served on the Supreme Court for seventeen years. He retired on June 12, 1967, when his son was appointed Attorney General of the United States. Following his retirement, Clark served as the first Chairman of the Federal Judicial Center, which was created by Congress to improve federal court administration. Clark also accepted assignments to sit by designation on various United States Courts of Appeals until his death on June 13, 1977, at the age of seventy-seven.

William O. Douglas, Associate Justice 1939-1975.
William O. Douglas was born in Maine, Minnesota, on October 16, 1898, and raised in Yakima, Washington. He entered Whitman College in 1916, but his studies were interrupted by military service in World War I. Douglas was graduated from Whitman in 1920 and taught school for two years before attending law school at Columbia University. Upon graduation in 1925, he joined a New York law firm, but left two years later to spend one year in Yakima. He subsequently returned to teach law at Columbia University, and transferred to the faculty of Yale University in 1929. In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Douglas to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in 1937 he became Chairman. President Roosevelt nominated Douglas to the Supreme Court of the United States on March 20, 1939. The Senate confirmed the appointment on April 4, 1939. Douglas had the longest tenure of any Justice, serving on the Supreme Court for thirty-six years with and spanning the careers of four Chief Justices. He retired on November 12, 1975, and died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eighty-one.

Felix Frankfurter, Associate Justice 1939-1962.
Felix Frankfurter was born in Vienna, Austria, on November, 15, 1882. When he was twelve years old, his family emigrated to the United States and settled in New York, New York. Frankfurter was graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1902 and Harvard Law School in 1906. Upon graduation, he took a position with a New York law firm, but within the year he was appointed an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 1910, Frankfurter began four years of service in the War Department’s Bureau of Insular Affairs as a legal officer. In 1914, he accepted an appointment to the faculty of Harvard Law School. He returned to Washington in 1917 to become assistant to the Secretary of War. He later became Secretary and counsel to the President's Mediation Commission and, subsequently, Chairman of the War Labor Politics Board. After World War I, he rejoined the Harvard Law School faculty. President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Frankfurter to the Supreme Court of the United States on January 5, 1939, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on January 17, 1939. After twenty-three years of service, Frankfurter retired from the Supreme Court on August 28, 1962. He died on February 22, 1965, at the age of eighty-two.

Robert H. Jackson, Associate Justice 1941-1954.
Robert H. Jackson was born on February 13, 1892, in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania, and raised in Jamestown, New York. In 1912, he completed a two-year course of study at Albany Law School and served an apprenticeship in a law firm. He then established a law practice in Jamestown. In 1934, Jackson moved to Washington D.C. to become a General Counsel to the Internal Revenue Service. From 1936 to 1941, Jackson served successively as Assistant United States Attorney General, Solicitor General, and Attorney General of the United States. In the latter position, he devised the legal strategy by which President Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to provide destroyers to Great Britain in exchange for military bases on British territory. President Roosevelt nominated Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States on June 12, 1941. The Senate confirmed the appointment on July 7, 1941. While on the Court, Jackson was appointed Chief United States Prosecutor at the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. Jackson served on the Supreme Court for thirteen years. He died on October 9, 1954, at the age of sixty-two.

Sherman Minton, Associate Justice 1949-1956.
Sherman Minton was born in Georgetown, Indiana, on October 20, 1890. He received a law degree from Indiana University in 1915, where among his classmates were future Republican Presidential candidate, Wendell L. Willkie, and future Indiana Governor, Paul V. McNutt. Minton received an additional degree from Yale University Law School in 1917 following one year of graduate study. Minton established a law practice in New Albany, Indiana, a town near his birthplace. In 1933, Minton was appointed Public Counselor to the Indiana Public Service Commission. One year later, he ran successfully for the United States Senate and served one six-year term. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Minton to the White House staff as an administrative assistant in charge of coordinating military agencies. Later that year, President Roosevelt appointed Minton to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, where he served for eight years. President Harry S. Truman nominated Minton to the Supreme Court of the United States on September 15, 1949. The Senate confirmed the appointment on October 4, 1949. Minton retired from the Supreme Court on October 15, 1956, after seven years of service. He died on April 9, 1965, at the age of seventy-four.

Stanley F. Reed, Associate Justice 1938-1957.
Stanley F. Reed was born in Minerva, Kentucky, on December 31, 1884. He was graduated from Kentucky Wesleylan University in 1902 and Yale
University in 1906. After studying law at the University of Virginia and Columbia University, Reed took graduate courses in international law in Paris, France in 1909 and 1910. Reed practiced law with a firm in Maysville, Kentucky, from 1910 to 1917, and served for four in the Kentucky General Assembly. He went on active military duty in World War I, after which he returned to his law practice in Marysville. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover appointed Reed Counsel to the Federal Farm Board. Two years later, he was promoted to General Counsel of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Reed Special Assistant to the Attorney General, and later that year Roosevelt appointed Reed Solicitor General of the United States. On January 15, 1938, President Roosevelt nominated Reed to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on January 25, 1938. Reed retired from the Supreme Court on February 25, 1957, after nineteen years of service. After retirement, he served briefly as Chairman of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Civil Rights Commission. He died on April 2, 1980, at the age of ninety-five.

Fred M. Vinson, Chief Justice 1946-1953.
Fred M. Vinson was born in Louisa, Kentucky, on January 22, 1890. He was graduated from Centre College in 1909 and from its Law School two
years later. In 1911, Vinson was admitted to the bar and began to practice law in Ashland, Kentucky. Vinson became City Attorney of Ashland and, in 1921, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the County. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1924 and was re-elected in 1926. He resumed his Ashland practice for two years and then won re-election to the House for four consecutive terms. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Vinson served the Roosevelt Administration during World War II in a succession of positions starting in 1943: Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization, Administrator of the Federal Loan Agency, and Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. In 1945, shortly after the end of the War, President Harry Truman appointed Vinson Secretary of the Treasury. On June 6, 1946, President Truman nominated Vinson Chief Justice of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on June 20, 1946. He served as Chairman of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1946 to 1953. Vinson served for seven years as Chief Justice and died on September 8, 1953, at the age of sixty-three. 

[The above biographies are from the Cornell Law School web site.]
 
 

Front row, left to right: Justices Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, Fred Vinson,  Stanley Reed, and William Douglas. Back row, left to right: Justices Tom Clark, Robert Jackson, Harold Burton, and Stanley Reed.