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Presidential Citizens Medal Recipient Constance Baker Motley
Born in New Haven, Connecticut on September 14, 1921, Constance Baker joined the NAACP while still in her teens after being denied admission to a local skating rink and a public beach. She was determined to become a lawyer, even though her family could not afford to send her to college. After hearing her speak at a local youth civic league, a wealthy Connecticut business man offered to pay her way through college. She attended Fisk University in Nashville before transferring to New York University, where she graduated in 1943 with a degree in economics. In 1946, she graduated from Columbia University School of Law and married Joel Wilson Motley, a real estate broker.
Soon after being admitted to the bar, Constance Baker Motley launched her career by joining the NAACP Legal Defense Fund staff. Over the next 20 years, her exemplary courtroom skills would help her win 90% of the civil rights cases she argued. The first woman to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, she secured the right for James H. Meredithto be admitted to the University of Mississippi and won the case that led to integration of public parks in Memphis.
Her list of accomplishments includes a number of firsts. In 1964, she became the first African-American female senator in New York state. In 1966, she was the first African Americanwoman appointed to the federal bench. In 1986, she was appointed senior judge for the Southern District of New York, the largest federal trial court in the country.
Judge Motleys achievements have led the way for other women, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day OConnor, to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her optimistic spirit and vision are reflected in her quote:
Something which we think is impossible now, is not impossible in another decade.
"When I was about fifteen, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. No one thought this was a good idea, and I received no encouragement...I was the kind of person who would not be put down." --Constance Baker Motley
In her autobiography Equal Justice Under Law, Judge Motley acknowledges the remarkable people who enabled her to go to college and law school at a time when this country was still trying to climb out of the Great Depression. More significantly, it was a time when the number of women in law school was small, and the numbers of black women as law students, even rarer.
"When I got to Columbia Law School I found that the student body included several other women like myself who were determined to become lawyers, notwithstanding the hard-nosed, antiwomen bias in the profession."
Constance Baker Motley applauds the accomplishments of her women classmates: Bella Abzug, elected to Congress; Beatrice Shainswit, New York Supreme Court judge; Charlotte Smallwood Cook, first woman to be elected a district attorney in New York State; Elaine Friedman, Naomi Levine, Gloria Agrin and Judith Vladeck, successful practioners.
CITATION:
A key legal strategist of the civil rights movement, Constance Baker Motley waged the battle for equality in the courtroom and, with quiet courage and remarkable skill, won landmark victories that dismantled segregation in America. As a dedicated public servant and distinguished judge, she has broken down political, social, and professional barriers, and her pursuit of equal justice under law has widened the circle of opportunity in America.
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Citizens Medal History
