By Cody D. Short | cshort@al.com
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson traveled to Alabama last week to visit several historical markers, including Tuskegee University, one of the nation’s few universities marked as a national historic site.
Jackson visited the historically Black university along with her husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson on Sept. 15. Her mother Ellery Brown graduated from the school in 1967, when it was called Tuskegee Institute.
The justice met with President Charlotte P. Morris; Dr. Olga Bolden Tiller, Dean of the College of Agriculture Environment and Nutrition Sciences; Dr. Ruby Perry, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine; Dr. Heshmat Aglan, Dean of the College of Engineering; and students of the university.
Justice Jackson visited Birmingham to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four young girls, which became a turning point for the civil rights movement in Alabama. She mentioned that her family lived in Alabama and taught her how Alabamians helped change American history.
“I want to assure you that I actually do know a lot about Alabama and in particular its critical connection to the civil rights struggle of African-Americans during the 1950s and 1960s,” she said. “While I’ve not been to Alabama, I can quite confidently say that I know Alabama. If you knew my parents, you would understand why.”
During Jackson’s speech at the church, she said that her aunt and uncle are also proud graduates of Tuskegee University
