Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, was born in the Pinpoint
community near Savannah, Georgia on June 23, 1948. He married
Virginia Lamp May 30, 1987, and has one child, Jamal Adeen, by a
previous marriage. The Justice and Ginni are raising his
sister's grandson as their son; Mark is 15.
Justice Thomas attended Conception Seminary from 1967-1968 and
received an A.B., cum laude, from Holy Cross College in 1971 and a
J.D. from Yale Law School in 1974. He was admitted to law
practice in Missouri in 1974, and served as an Assistant Attorney
General of Missouri, 1974-1977; an attorney with the Monsanto
Company, 1977-1979; and Legislative Assistant to Senator John
Danforth, 1979-1981. From 1981-1982 he served as Assistant
Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, and as
Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
1982-1990. From 1990-1991, he served as a Judge on the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
President George H.W. Bush nominated him as an Associate Justice of
the Supreme Court and he took his seat October 23, 1991.
More About the Speakers
Justice Clarence
Thomas
speaking on
"My Grandfather's Son"