For Motley, who was the Executive in Residence presentation for the Finance Department at the Fox School of Business this fall, philanthropy is in his blood. When she was fifteen, Constance Baker Motley read Abraham Lincoln’s declaration that the legal profession was the most challenging of vocations and, filled with ambition, decided she would one day become a lawyer. 2An interview with Judge Constance Baker Motley conducted by Alfred C. Aman (1988). She was 84. Synopsis Federal Judge Constance Baker Motley was born in Connecticut in 1921. important of the twentieth century.4 She represented James Meredith in his successful attempt to integrate the University of Mississippi, integration that was accomplished only with the 1Constance Baker Motley, Equal Justice Under the Law (1998). Federal Judge Constance Baker Motley, who as a young lawyer represented Martin Luther King Jr. and played a pivotal role in the nation's civil rights struggle, has died. Key Civil Rights Strategist: Constance Baker Motley (LAW'1946) Constance Baker Motley, pictured above between Jack Greenberg and Thurgood Marshall, became the first African American woman appointed to the federal judiciary on Jan. 25, 1966, when she was appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Constance Baker was born on September 14, 1921, in New Haven, Connecticut. Her parents were emigrants from the island of Nevis in the West Indies.Motley grew up attending New Haven’s integrated public schools and soon became an avid reader. She was the first African American woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. She was inspired by books concerning civil rights … Motley died of congestive heart failure at NYU Downtown Hospital yesterday morning, according to her son, Joel Motley III. dailynutmeg.com/2019/02/26/constance-baker-motley-civil-disobedience In 1946, she received her law degree from Columbia University, and married real estate and insurance broker, Joel Wilson Motley. She won multiple cases championing civil rights. She became the first female African-American federal judge in 1966. Constance Baker Motley, who has died aged 84, was the first African-American woman to become a US federal judge and also the first black woman to be elected to the New York state senate. Constance Baker Motley was born on September 14, 1921 in New Haven, Connecticut.. She was the ninth child in a family of 12 children. Constance Baker Motley After working with LDF founder Thurgood Marshall, Motley became LDF’s first female attorney and wrote the original complaint in Brown v.Board . She graduated from New York University in 1943. She later joined the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the NAACP and worked with Thurgood Marshall. She was also a Borough president of Manhattan, New York. Winning 9 out of these 10 cases, Motley established herself as a successful female attorney at the highest level of the United States judiciary. See the fact file below for more information on the Constance Baker Motley or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Constance Baker Motley worksheet … Constance Baker Motley was an African American judge, lawyer, civil rights activist, and politician. Constance Baker Motley was a legal advocate in the Civil Rights Movement. Constance Baker Motley participated in 10 different cases argued before the Supreme Court. His mother, Constance Baker Motley, was a leader of the African-American civil rights movement, lawyer, judge, state senator and Borough President of Manhattan, New York City. 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