06/19/2026
Sibling, Daughter, Wife, Mom, Civil Rights Activist, New York State Senator, Federal Judge, Author – these are just some of the titles held by Constance Baker Motley. She was the only female attorney on the legal team that won Brown v. Board of Education. Constance Baker Motley argued and won 9 out of 10 civil rights cases before the SCOTUS; you can thank Constance Baker Motley for desegregation of restaurants and colleges.
Judge Baker Motley overturned convictions of protesters and was appointed to the federal bench at the urging of both Republicans and Democrats.
She published her autobiography in 1988, “Equal Justice Under Law: The Live of a Pioneer for Black Civil Rights and Women’s Rights” (https://bookshop.org/.../equal-justice.../9780374526184). If you are in OKC, TRF has a copy to lend!
Judge Baker was inducted to the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993 and Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Citizen’s Medal in 2001.
As early as her high school years, Constance Baker Motley was a respected activist. After graduating from New York University, she obtained her law degree from Columbia in 1946 and spent 20 years with the NAACP. Judge Kimba Wood described her as having ``the strength of a self-made star. As she grew, she was unfailingly optimistic and positive; she never let herself be diverted from her goal of achieving civil rights, even though, as she developed as a lawyer, she faced almost constant condescension from our profession due to her being an African-American woman.''
Constance Baker Motley should be a household name because she paved the way for so many humans, and her legacy should never be forgotten.
