Fred Vinson was the 13th
Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. He was best know as an
advocate for the broad
interpretation of the
power of the
federal government over the
state government. He was one of the most
outspoken enemies of the
State's Rights movements.
Vinson made a lot of decisions in favor of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment which helped minorities avoid exclusion from their rights by fucked up local and state laws.
The most famous case was Shelley v. Kraemer. A state court was refused the ability to enforce a private agreement that was made to sell property to only white people. He frequently sided with Thurgood Marshall and made quite a bit of legal progress for the concept of equal protection.