John Marshall Harlan was born in Kentucky on June 1, 1833, the sixth child, and fifth son, of James Harlan and Eliza Davenport Harlan. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1876 by President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Harlan was more than just a legal theorist. He was a man who suffered through war and peace, victory and defeat, shame and redemption. He acted on what he saw before him. He understood the power of ideas, but also the power of individuals. He learned firsthand, from his family, that those born into slavery could drink just as deeply of freedom as white men could. If the origins of today’s system of justice are visible in Harlan’s dissents, so too are they visible in his life.