Constance Motley
| Constance Baker Motley | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
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In office May 31, 1982 – September 30, 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Lloyd MacMahon |
| Succeeded by | Charles Brieant |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
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In office August 30, 1966 – September 30, 1986 |
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| Appointed by | Lyndon Johnson |
| Preceded by | Archie Dawson |
| Succeeded by | Kimba Wood |
| Borough President of Manhattan | |
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In office February 23, 1965 – August 30, 1966 |
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| Preceded by | Edward Dudley |
| Succeeded by | Percy Sutton |
| Member of the New York Senate from the 21st district |
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In office February 4, 1964 – February 23, 1965 |
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| Preceded by | James Watson |
| Succeeded by | Jeremiah Bloom |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 21, 1921 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | September 28, 2005 (aged 84) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater |
Fisk University New York University Columbia University |
Constance Baker Motley (September 14, 1921 – September 28, 2005) was an African-American civil rights activist, lawyer, judge, state senator, and Borough President of Manhattan, New York City. She was the first African-American woman appointed to the federal judiciary by Lyndon B. Johnson. She was an assistant attorney to Thurgood Marshall arguing the case Brown v. Board of Education.
Constance Baker was born on September 14, 1921, in New Haven, Connecticut, the ninth of twelve children. Her parents, Rachel Huggins and McCullough Alva Baker, were immigrants from Nevis, in the Caribbean. Her mother was a domestic worker, and her father worked as a chef for different Yale University student societies, including the secret society Skull and Bones.
While growing up in New Haven, Baker attended the integrated public schools, but was occasionally subject to racism. In two separate incidents she was denied entrance, once to a skating rink, the other to a local beach. By the time Baker reached high school she had already cultivated a profound sense of racial awareness, sparking her interest to get involved with civil rights. A speech by Yale Law School graduate George Crawford, a civil rights attorney for the New Haven Branch of the NAACP, inspired Baker to attend law school.
With financial help from a local philanthropist, Clarence W. Blakeslee, she started college at Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee, but later returned north to attend integrated New York University. At NYU, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1943. Motley received her law degree in 1946 from Columbia University School of Law.
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Wikipedia