Supreme Court of the United States
Out of concern for the health and safety of the public and Supreme Court employees, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public until further notice. The Building will remain open for official business. Please see all COVID-19 announcements here.

Today at the Court - Monday, Aug 31, 2020


Building closed to the public

  • Out of concern for the health and safety of the public and Supreme Court employees, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public until further notice. The Building will remain open for official business. Please see all COVID-19 announcements here.
  • All public lectures and visitor programs are temporarily suspended.
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What's New

All Together for the Camera: A History of the Supreme Court’s Group Photograph


Few visual cues say “Supreme Court” as well as its group photograph. Trace the history of the Court’s group photograph from the first in 1867 to the most recent in this new online exhibit.

View Online

 

The first group photograph taken of the Justices dressed in the judicial robes also included Clerk of the Court D.W. Middleton (standing at left).
The first group photograph of the Justices, taken in 1867.
Alexander Gardner, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States




Did You Know...

A Unique Portrait Session


On August 28, 1962, Justice Felix Frankfurter retired from the Supreme Court after suffering an incapacitating stroke the previous spring. During the interim, Justice Byron R. White joined the Court. Traditionally, a group photograph of the nine sitting Justices is taken after a new member joins the Court, but this time circumstances were different. Later that fall, then-retired Justice Frankfurter made a rare and brief visit to the Supreme Court Building to pose for a group photograph alongside Justice White, making this the only time a retired Justice has ever posed for an official group photograph.

By the time of this photograph, Justice Arthur J. Goldberg had taken Frankfurter’s seat on the Bench and the Justices posed again two weeks later for a group photograph that included Goldberg. For more on the history of the Court’s group photograph, visit All Together for the Camera: A History of the Supreme Court’s Group Photograph.

 

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The Warren Court, November 1962. Seated from left: Justices William O. Douglas, Hugo L. Black, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Justices Felix Frankfurter, and Tom C. Clark. Standing from left: Justices Potter Stewart, John M. Harlan, William J. Brennan, Jr., and Byron R. White.
The Warren Court, November 1962.
Seated from left: Justices William O. Douglas, Hugo L. Black, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Justices Felix Frankfurter, and Tom C. Clark. Standing from left: Justices Potter Stewart, John M. Harlan, William J. Brennan, Jr., and Byron R. White.
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Click on the arrows or dots to see the next photograph.
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On April 5, 1962, shortly after receiving a delivery of books from the Supreme Court Library, Justice Felix Frankfurter suffered a stroke at his desk. This photograph was taken by one of his law clerks during the 1959 Term.
On April 5, 1962, shortly after receiving a delivery of books from the Supreme Court Library, Justice Felix Frankfurter suffered a stroke at his desk. This photograph was taken by one of his law clerks during the 1959 Term.
Photograph by Paul Bender, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Click on the arrows or dots to see the first photograph.
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