FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Ketanji Brown Jackson can now say she is the first Black woman to be appointed as a justice to the United States Supreme Court.

What You Need To Know

Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first Black woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court

Patricia Timmons-Goodson was the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina

She served from 2006-2012, and her career on the bench began in 1984 as a District Court judge in Cumberland County

The news came after the U.S. Senate confirmation on Thursday afternoon as the newest Supreme Court justice watched alongside the president.

Patricia Timmons-Goodson excitedly watched the moment in history on her kitchen television.

“53-47! It happened,” she said.

Timmons-Goodson knows the importance of this moment because she was the first Black woman named as a justice to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

“I am so proud. I am so excited. I am so emotional about this moment because of what it means to so many, so many women,” Timmons-Goodson said.

The former justice remembered her 2006 appointment.

“In my mother’s words, I felt as tall as the trees,” Timmons-Goodson said.

At the time of her appointment, she would be joining another woman on the state’s high court: former Chief Justice Sarah Parker.

“It was the first time that two women served on the court at the same time,” Timmons-Goodson said.

Timmons-Goodson would be on the state’s highest court until 2012.

Before that her career on the bench began in 1984 as a District Court judge in Cumberland County. She would be in that role through 1997, when the history maker shifted to the N.C. Court of Appeals from 1997 to 2005 as an associate judge. Much like Jackson, she did a lot before reaching the high court. The former justice said she believed the watershed moment on Thursday can empower young women everywhere.

“I think a lot of women are walking a lot taller, and a lot straighter. This is what America is about. This is the way it’s supposed to happen,” Timmons-Goodson said.

Timmons-Goodson said she is now retired. She felt the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest appointee will handle this challenge much like any other in her life.

“She's worked hard to get to where she is, and it’s a great day for America,” she said.

Overall the 67-year-old hoped little Black girls would see themselves when they think about this day in history.

”Ladies watch and look at judge Jackson and what she has done and say, ‘I can do that. She’s like me. She’s like me,’” she said.

Jackson will not join the country’s highest court until late June or early July when Justice Stephen Breyer retires.

Timmons-Goodson was also appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights by President Obama in 2014.