On March 26, William H. Hastie became the first Black federal judge.

After graduating with a degree in mathematics from Amherst College in 1925, Hastie taught at the Bordentown Manual School before going on to Harvard University to receive a law degree in 1930.

He began his federal career as a solicitor for the Department of the Interior in 1933. Upon the recommendation of Interior Secretary Harold Ickes,

Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Hastie to the U.S. District Court in the Virgin Islands.

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