In a ritual reserved for the most historic votes, senators sat at their desks and stood to cast their votes. Kagan watched on TV in the conference room at the Solicitor General's Office.
Obama invited Kagan to the White House on Friday for a reception to celebrate her confirmation.
Traveling Thursday in Chicago, he praised Kagan's ascension as "a sign of progress that I relish not just as a father who wants limitless possibilities for my two daughters, but as an American proud that our Supreme Court will be more inclusive, more representative, and more reflective of us as a people than ever before."
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will administer the constitutional oath to Kagan at 2 p.m. Saturday in a private ceremony at the court, with Kagan family members in attendance. He will administer the judicial oath in a second ceremony open to the media.
Kagan's formal investiture will take place Oct. 1 at a special sitting of the court.
During this week's Senate debate, Democrats lauded Kagan - a self-described progressive who will become the only sitting justice without prior experience as a judge - as a fresh, different voice. Republicans painted her as unqualified and harboring dangerous liberal tendencies.
Kagan's "experience outside the judicial monastery will be valuable to her when she is confirmed," Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D., Vt.) said. "No one can question the intelligence or achievements of this woman."
Brown votes no
But top Judiciary Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama said of the former Harvard Law School dean: "While she is truly intelligent, the exceptional qualities of her mind may be better suited to dealing with students and unruly faculty than with the daily hard work of deciding tough cases before the Supreme Court."
