WILLIAM STRONG was born in Somers, Connecticut, on May 6, 1808. He was graduated from Yale College in 1828 and taught school in Connecticut and New Jersey for four years. Strong also obtained a graduate degree from Yale in 1831 and attended its Law School briefly in 1832. He moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, where he was admitted to the bar in 1832 and established a law practice. Strong was elected to the Reading City Council. In 1846, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives; he was re-elected two years later. In 1857, Strong was elected to a fifteen-year term on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, where he served for eleven years. He resigned in 1868 to resume his law practice. On February 7, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Strong to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on February 18, 1870. While on the Court, he was appointed a member of the electoral commission which decided the disputed Presidential election of 1876 in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes. Strong served on the Supreme Court for ten years. He retired on December 14, 1880, and died on August 19, 1895, at the age of eighty-seven.
Members support the Society’s efforts to increase awareness of the Court’s contributions to our nation’s constitutional heritage. Benefits include: Court history publications, special event invitations, discounts.
SCHS sponsored events cover Supreme Court history themes, from early landmark figures and cases such as McCullough, to civics, labor, women’s rights, immigration, Constitutional controversies.
Documentaries covering landmark points on the timeline of Supreme Court history, including: FDR’s court packing controversy, the contested 1876 election + John Marshall & Marbury v. Madison.
Visit the Supreme Court Historical Society’s CIVICS website to learn about the history and cases of the Supreme Court of the United States and gain insights into key figures associated with the Court.
A timeline of Supreme Court history, including the Marshall and Warren Courts + landmark cases: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, and significant rulings in women’s rights court cases.