Constance Baker Motley (September 14, 1921 – September 28, 2005) was an American jurist and politician, who served as a Judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...

. A key strategist of the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

, she was state senator, and Borough President of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in New York City before becoming a

United States federal judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

."U.S. Courts: Constance Baker Motley – Judiciary's Unsung Rights Hero." ''Targeted News Service'', February 21, 2020''.'' She obtained a role with the

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...

as a staff attorney in 1946 after receiving her law degree, and continued her work with the organization for more than twenty years. She was the first Black woman to argue at the Supreme Court and argued 10 landmark civil rights cases, winning nine. She was a law clerk to

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

, aiding him in the case ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

.'' Motley was also the first African-American woman appointed to the federal judiciary, serving as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In 1965, Motley was elected President of the Borough of

to fill a one-year vacancy. She was both the first woman and Black woman to ever hold this office. As president, she authored a revitalization plan for

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and East Harlem, successfully fighting for $700,000 to improve these and other underserved areas of the city.

Early life

Constance Baker was born on September 14, 1921, in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, the ninth of twelve children."Rep. Rangel Introduces Resolution Recognizing Life, Achievements of U.S. District Court Judge." ''US Fed News Service, Including US State News'', February 28, 2007''.'' Her parents, Rachel Huggins and McCullough Alva Baker,Hines, C.D., Hines, C.W. & Harrow, S. (2011). The African American Odyssey. New Jersey: Pearson were immigrants from the Caribbean Island

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...

. Before coming to the United States, Rachel worked as a seamstress and a teacher while McCullough worked as a cobbler. After they immigrated, her mother served as a domestic worker, and her father worked as a chef for different Yale University student societies, including the secret society

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. Motley describes her parents' education as being equivalent "to the tenth grade in the States." Her mother, Rachel Baker, served as a community activist. She founded the New Haven NAACP. At 15, she read works by

James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...

and W.E.B. DuBois, which inspired her interest in Black history. She met a minister who taught classes in Black history that focused her attention on civil rights and the underrepresentation of black lawyers.

Education

While in high school, Motley became president of the New Haven Negro Youth Council and was secretary of the New Haven Adult Community Council. In 1939, she graduated with honors from Hillhouse High School. Although she had already formed a desire to practice law, Motley lacked the means to attend college, and instead went to work for the

National Youth Administration The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency sponsored by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency. It focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. It operated from June 26, 1935 to ...

. She also continued her involvement in community activities. Through this work she encountered local businessman and philanthropist Clarence W. Blakeslee, who, after hearing Motley speak at a New Haven community center, offered to pay for her education. With his financial help, she started college at Fisk University, a

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

in Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, but after one year, she transferred to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, where she graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1943. She received her

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

in 1946 from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. In October 1945, during her second year at Columbia Law School, future

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Associate Justice

hired her as a law clerk. She was assigned to work on

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

cases that were filed after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Civil rights work

Motley is widely acknowledged as a major figure in the Civil Rights Movement, especially its legal battles.Holley, Joe. "Constance Motley Dies; Rights Lawyer, Judge: INAL Edition" ''The Washington Post'', September 29, 2005''.'' After graduating from Columbia's Law School in 1946, she was hired by the

(LDF) as a civil rights lawyer. As the fund's first female attorney, she became Associate Counsel to the LDF, making her a lead trial attorney in a number of early and significant civil rights cases including representing

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, the Freedom Riders, and the Birmingham Children Marchers. She visited Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while he sat in jail, as well as spent a night with civil rights activist

Medgar Evers Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...

under armed guard. In 1950, she wrote the original complaint in the case of ''

''. The first African-American woman ever to argue a case before the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, in '' Meredith v. Fair'' she won James Meredith's effort to be the first black student to attend the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

in 1962. Motley was successful in nine of the ten cases she argued before the Supreme Court. The tenth decision, regarding jury composition, was eventually overturned in her favor. She was otherwise a key legal strategist in the civil rights movement, helping to desegregate Southern schools, buses, and lunch counters. Beyond her work with LDF, Motley continued her civil rights work as an elected official. In 1964, she was elected to the New York State Senate and devoted much of her time to advocate for housing equality for majority-Black and Latino, low-income tenants. She also endorsed urban renewal projects and looked to improve the neighborhoods in New York City that needed aid.

Political and judicial firsts

Motley was elected on February 4, 1964, to the New York State Senate (21st district), to fill the vacancy caused by the election of James Lopez Watson to the

New York City Civil Court The Civil Court of the City of New York is a civil court of the New York State Unified Court System in New York City that decides lawsuits involving claims for damages up to $25,000 and includes a small claims part (small claims court) for cases i ...

. She was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman to sit in the State Senate. She took her seat in the

174th New York State Legislature The 174th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 1963, to December 30, 1964, during the fifth and sixth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. ...

, was re-elected in November 1964 to the

175th New York State Legislature The 175th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to June 23, 1965, during the seventh year of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. Background Under th ...

, and resigned her seat when she was chosen as the first woman as

Borough President on February 23, 1965, after her predecessor was elected to a state judicial position. In November 1965, she was elected to a full four-year term. J. Raymond Jones was influential in helping her reach these positions.

Federal judicial service

Motley was nominated by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

on January 26, 1966, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Archie Owen Dawson. Senator James Eastland of Mississippi delayed her confirmation process for seven months. Eastland was in opposition to her past desegregation work including ''

'' and ''Meredith v. Fair''. He used his influence as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee to disrupt Motley's nomination, and went as far as accusing her of being a member of the Communist Party. Despite opposition, she was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on August 30, 1966, and received her commission the same day, becoming the first African American female federal judge. She served as Chief Judge from 1982 to 1986. She assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on September 30, 1986. Her service terminated on September 28, 2005, due to her death in New York City.

Notable cases

Motley was the presiding judge on the case of ''Blank v. Sullivan & Cromwell'', a landmark case for women lawyers. In ''Blank,'' the plaintiffs accused a law firm of sex discrimination. Due to the nature of this case and Motley's gender and race, there were calls for her to withdraw from the case assuming she would be biased. In response, she pointed to her history of impartial decisions, sometimes ruling against the plaintiff in discrimination cases. In , another highly publicized case, Motley admonished the New York City police for not providing Vietnam war protesters with adequate protection against violence in the streets. Motley ruled against the plaintiff in the case of ''Mullarkey v. Borglum'' in 1970. This case involved female tenants in New York City arguing that their male landlord was violating their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The defendants cited the landlord's overreach of power but failed to detail the landlord's legal failings. Motley ruled in favor of the defendant, rejecting the plaintiffs' claim of sex discrimination and going against her former advocacy for tenants during her time in the New York State Senate. Motley handed down a breakthrough decision for women in sports broadcasting in 1978, when she ruled that a female reporter must be allowed into a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

locker room. In ''Ludtke v. Kuhn,''

Melissa Ludtke Melissa Ludtke (born May 27, 1951) is an American journalist. In 1978, as a young sports journalist, Ludtke won a lawsuit for the right to be allowed in Major League Baseball locker rooms. Early life Ludtke was born in Iowa City, Iowa, but grew ...

filed a lawsuit against Bowie Kuhn, the Major League Baseball Commissioner, The American League President Leland MacPhail, and three New York City officials over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

gendered policy forbidding female sports reporters from entering the Yankees locker room.

Honors and awards

Motley received a

Candace Award The Candace Award is an award that was given from 1982 to 1992 by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW) to "Black role models of uncommon distinction who have set a standard of excellence for young people of all races". Candace (pronou ...

for Distinguished Service from the

National Coalition of 100 Black Women The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. (NCBW) is a non-profit volunteer organization for African American women. Its members address common issues in their communities, families and personal lives, promoting gender and racial equity. Hi ...

in 1984. In 1993, she was inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame. In 2001, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

awarded her the Presidential Citizens Medal. The NAACP awarded her the Spingarn Medal, the organization's highest honor, in 2003."Judge Constance Baker Motley to Receive 88th Spingarn Award." ''The Crisis'', vol. 110, no. 4, Jul 2003, pp. 64''.'' Motley was a prominent honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. In 2006, Motley posthumously received the

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

from Congress for all of her accomplishments during her lifetime. In 2011, She was honored posthumously with the 13th Ford Freedom Award for her accomplishments that helped disadvantaged communities. In 2016, the Chester, Connecticut Land Trust purchased land across from her former second home. The parcel was eventually dedicated the “Judge Constance Baker Motley Preserve”. A small kiosk, picnic area, and trail are available to the public. On October 6, 2019, her property located in Chester, Connecticut was designated a site on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. The site is just one of 140 that honor African-Americans throughout the state. The

Historical Society authored a street co-naming resolution honoring Motley for her service as an American Civil Rights Activist, Lawyer, Judge, State Senator, and Harlem resident. The portion of Edgecombe Avenue between 159th and 160th streets was co-named “Constance Baker Motley Place”.

Personal life

Constance Baker married Joel Motley Jr., a real estate and insurance broker, in 1946 at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in

. They lived in Harlem, New York City and maintained a second home in Chester, Connecticut from 1965 until her death in 2005. Baker and Motley were married for 59 years, until her death of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

on September 28, 2005, fourteen days after her 84th birthday, at NYU Downtown Hospital in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Her funeral was held at the

church where she had been married; a public memorial service was held at

Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...

. She left one son, Joel Wilson Motley III, co-chairman of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, and three grandchildren. During the early twenty-first century, Motley became a part of the Just The Beginning Foundation, a foundation dedicated to preserving African American judges who improve the African American community through their work.

Legacy

During her time as a federal judge for the Southern District of New York, Motley made efforts to reach out to other African-American women in her position. One of the women she reached out to was Judge Ann Thompson who received a personal note from Motley on the day she was appointed to be a judge for the District of New Jersey. In 2005, the University of Pennsylvania Law School's American Constitution Society (ACS) student chapter began to host National Writing Competitions annually in honor of Constance Baker Motley. With her work on ''Ludtke v. Kuhn'', Motley became a pivotal figure to Melissa Ludtke. Ludtke published an article in 2018 praising the work that Motley accomplished throughout her life despite the discrimination she experienced. Judith Heumann, co-founder of the World Institute on Disability, credits Motley with her becoming the first licensed teacher in the state of New York who used a wheelchair. Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

explicitly cites Motley's influence on her own political and law career on her campaign page. An award-winning biographical documentary, ''Justice is a Black Woman: The Life and Work of Constance Baker Motley'', was broadcast on Connecticut Public Television in 2012. A documentary short, ''The Trials of Constance Baker Motley'', premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

on April 19, 2015. Federal judge

Ketanji Brown Jackson Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson ( ; born September 14, 1970) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden on February 25, 202 ...

cited Motley as an influence on her own career in a speech accepting President Joe Biden's nomination to become an

associate justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the Supreme Court. Jackson and Motley share the same birthday.

References

External links

Ford Freedom Awards
*
Just The Beginning FoundationConstance Baker Motley's oral history video excerpts
at The National Visionary Leadership Project
Constance Baker Motley papers
at the

Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, a ...

, Smith College Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Motley, Constance Baker 1921 births 2005 deaths Alpha Kappa Alpha members 20th-century American Episcopalians African-American Episcopalians African-American judges African-American state legislators in New York (state) African-American women in politics American people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent Columbia Law School alumni Congressional Gold Medal recipients Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York NAACP activists Democratic Party New York (state) state senators New York University alumni Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Spingarn Medal winners United States district court judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson 20th-century American judges Women state legislators in New York (state) 20th-century American women judges Politicians from New Haven, Connecticut Lawyers from New Haven, Connecticut Deaths from congestive heart failure