The Supreme Court: Opening the Cockpit Doors

To the pilot leaving military service, the brightest blue yonder may be a job with a commercial airline. And so it seemed, in 1957, to Captain Marlon D. Green. Green was a highly qualified pilot; in his nine years in the Air Force, he had logged 3,071 hours in multi-engine bombers and cargo planes. When he resigned from the Air Force, Green applied to at least ten U.S. airlines for a pilot's position. He was turned down by all. For Marlon Green is a Negro.

Finally, Green applied to Denver's Continental Air Lines—leaving...