1937 – Johnnie Cochran Is Born
Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 2nd, 1937 and raised in Los Angeles, became one of the nation’s most renowned attorneys. A UCLA graduate with a law degree from Loyola Marymount University, he founded his own firm in 1966 and quickly gained a reputation as a brilliant trial lawyer. Cochran earned numerous honors, including being named one of the top litigators in the U.S. and induction into the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Best known for leading O.J. Simpson’s defense team, Cochran also championed civil rights cases, including freeing Geronimo Pratt after 27 years of wrongful imprisonment. Through The Cochran Firm, he expanded nationally, advocating for victims of injustice. He passed away in 2005.
1967 – Thurgood Marshall Sworn in to the U.S. Supreme Court
Thurgood Marshall, born in Baltimore in 1908, was a civil rights lawyer who used the courts to dismantle segregation and challenge Jim Crow. A graduate of Howard University Law School, he became chief of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1940 and argued 32 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning 29. His most famous victory was Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which struck down “separate but equal” in public schools.
On October 2, 1967, Marshall was sworn in as the first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Serving nearly 25 years, he championed affirmative action, opposed the death penalty, and fought tirelessly for equal justice.
2005 – August Wilson Passes Away
August Wilson, born in 1945 in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, became one of America’s greatest playwrights. He created the American Century Cycle—10 plays chronicling African-American life across each decade of the 20th century. Though he left high school after being accused of plagiarism, Wilson often said his education came from the “four B’s”: the blues, painter Romare Bearden, poet Amiri Baraka, and writer Jorge Luis Borges. Wilson’s cycle earned him two Pulitzer Prizes (Fences and The Piano Lesson) and multiple Broadway productions. After his passing on October 2nd, 2005, Broadway’s Virginia Theatre was renamed the August Wilson Theatre, honoring his lasting legacy.