Celebrating Women’s Month: 37th Nathanson Memorial Lecture with Tomiko Brown-Nagin

With the US Supreme Court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson, "it makes sense to revisit the life and work of another Black woman who profoundly shaped the law- Constance Baker Motley" (CNN). The first major biography of one of our most influential judges-an activist lawyer who became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary-that provides an eye-opening account of the twin struggles for gender equality and civil rights in the 20th Century.

Born to an aspirational blue-collar family during the Great Depression, Constance Baker Motley was expected to find herself a good career as a hair dresser. Instead, she became the first black woman to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court, the first of ten she would eventually argue. The only black woman member in the legal team at the NAACP's Inc. Fund at the time, she defended Martin Luther King in Birmingham, helped to argue in Brown vs. The Board of Education, and played a critical role in vanquishing Jim Crow laws throughout the South. She was the first black woman elected to the state Senate in New York, the first woman elected Manhattan Borough President, and the first black woman appointed to the federal judiciary. Civil Rights Queen captures the story of a remarkable American life, a figure who remade law and inspired the imaginations of African Americans across the country. Burnished with an extraordinary wealth of research, award-winning, esteemed Civil Rights and legal historian and dean of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Tomiko Brown-Nagin brings Motley to life in these pages. Brown-Nagin compels us to ponder some of our most timeless and urgent questions-how do the historically marginalized access the corridors of power? What is the price of the ticket? How does access to power shape individuals committed to social justice? In Civil Rights Queen, she dramatically fills out the picture of some of the most profound judicial and societal change made in twentieth-century America

When it struck down racial segregation in public schools in 1954, the Supreme Court set in motion two revolutions: in black civil fights and in women's rights. One has carried black Americans into the middle class; the other has moved women from the home into the workforce. Constance Baker Motley has been a pioneer in both revolutions -- as civil fights Lawyer, New York state senator, Manhattan borough president, and federal judge -- and now she sheds new light on the great events of the 1950s and 1960s. Constance Baker joined Thurgood Marshall's legal team at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in 1945 while still in law school becoming one of a small group of women lawyers of the period. She was chief counsel for James Meredith in his tumultuous legal battle to be the first black to attend the University of Mississippi; she argued ten cases before the Supreme Court; and she represented other leading civil fights figures, including Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1966, she was the firstblack woman appointed to the federal bench, over a firestorm of opposition. This book, the most detailed account to date of the legal conflicts of the civil rights movement, is also an account of Constance Baker Morley's struggle, as a black woman, to succeed; it is a moving recollection of a life lived with great courage and responsibility.

The judicial system in a liberal democracy is deemed to be an independent branch of government with judges free from political agendas or societal pressures. In reality, judges are often influenced by their economic and social backgrounds, gender, race, religion, and sexuality. This volume explores the representation of different identities in the judiciary in the United States. The contributors investigate the pipeline, ambition, institutional inclusion, retention, and representation of groups previously excluded from federal, state, and local judiciaries. This study demonstrates how diversity on the bench improves the quality of justice, bolsters confidence in the legitimacy of the courts, and provides a vital voice in decision-making power for formerly disenfranchised populations.

Profiles such women as Hillary Clinton, Janet Reno, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O'Connor, Tiera Farrow, and Crystal Eastman.

Albany Law School has hosted an annual Kate Stoneman Day since 1994 to celebrate the first woman admitted to the Bar in New York, who was also the first woman to attend Albany Law School. This important book shares the inspiration, advice and experiences of pioneering women in the legal profession who continue to pave the way for others. Their speeches, delivered at Kate Stoneman Day and published here, are from our leading women lawyers-many of them active members of the American Bar Association as well as judges, professors and partners in major law firms. Book jacket.

This second volume of the Book of Black Heroes features more than 80 historical and contemporary black women which often have not received the recognition they deserve. Aimed at young readers, it presents the inspiring stories of freedom fighters, educators, writers and fine artistis, performing artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, lawyers and policy makers and scientists and healers. The book aims to provoke questions from young readers, and stimulate meaningful dialogue and interaction between children and their teachers around the issues the text raises. Parents and teachers can use the volume as a guide for further discussion, and a reading list is provided.