Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948 in Pin Point, a small town in Georgia founded by freedmen. Thomas’ mother, Leola, worked as a maid in Savannah but struggled to provide for her children as a single parent, since Thomas’ father had abandoned the family. In 1955, Thomas and his brother began living with his grandparents, Myers and Christine Anderson, who ultimately raised him. After moving in with his grandparents, Thomas was exposed to amenities such as indoor plumbing for the first time.

Thomas has described his grandfather as the most influential person in his life. Despite having almost no formal education, Thomas’ grandfather built an extremely successful business that enabled him to live comfortably. He taught Thomas the value of hard work, self-reliance, and that “all of our rights as human beings came from God, not man.” During the Civil Rights movement in Georgia, Thomas’ grandfather took them to NAACP meetings and even used his own money to bail out protestors. Thomas attended a predominantly black High School for two years before his grandfather sent him to St. John Vianney Minor Seminary, where he was the first black student. Thomas excelled academically and spent much of his time at the Carnegie Library, which was the only library for Blacks in the area at the time.

After high school, Thomas became the first member of his family to attend college when he enrolled in the Conception Seminary College in Missouri. Thomas intended to become a Priest, but after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and subsequent displays of racism on campus, he left the seminary. In the fall of 1968, Thomas transferred to the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts on a full academic scholarship. At Holy Cross, Thomas founded the Black Student Union and became a vocal activist on campus. He was also a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society, and the Purple Key Society. In 1971, Thomas graduated ninth in his class with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in English, cum laude. Thomas was accepted to Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, but he ultimately enrolled at Yale. In law school, Thomas excelled academically but found it difficult to connect with students from upper-class backgrounds. He graduated from Yale in 1974.