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Motley, Constance Baker
3 articles on Motley, Constance Baker
Motley, Constance Baker
Source: Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century
Word Count: 1043 Includes: Bibliography(b. 14 September 1921; d. 28 September 2005), civil rights lawyer and federal judge. Constance Baker Motley was an integral member of the Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) through the 1950s and the early 1960s, arguing some of the era's most important cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.Motley was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Willoughby Alva Baker and Rachel Keziah Huggins Baker, immigrants from the Caribbean Island of Nevis. Motley's father remained a loyal Republican throughout his life, but her mother supported Franklin D. Rooseveltand the New Deal. The ninth of twelve children, Motley grew up in a strict household where education and religion were strongly emphasized. During high school she decided that she wanted to be a ...
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Source: African American National Biography
Word Count: 1656 Includes: Further Reading | Obituary:(14 Sept. 1921–28 Sept. 2005), lawyer, jurist, New York state senator, and prominent civil rights advocate, was born Constance Baker in New Haven, Connecticut, the ninth of twelve children of Willoughby Alva Baker and Rachel Keziah Huggins, immigrants from the West Indian island of Nevis. Her father worked as a chef for Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale, and owned a restaurant briefly in the 1930s, but the Depression caused the endeavor to fail. Her mother was a leader in the black community, particularly as a member of St. Luke's Church. One of the oldest African American Episcopal churches in the nation, the church served predominantly West Indian families.Constance Baker was an excellent student and had published both a poem and a prize-winning essay on tuberculosis by the time she graduated from high ...
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Source: Black Women in America, Second Edition
Word Count: 1389 Includes: Bibliography(b. 14 September 1921; d. 31 May 2005),
attorney, judge, and senator. As a leading figure of the era, Motley was on the ground floor of the civil rights revolution. Not only did she help to ensure the legal incorporation of African Americans, but she also was instrumental in laying the foundation for the women's movement and the continued protection of civil liberties for other marginalized groups. As a pioneer in her profession, Motley repeatedly broke gender and racial barriers. She was the first black woman attorney to argue before the United States Supreme Court, first black woman to serve in the New York State Senate, first woman elected as president of the Manhattan Borough, and first African American woman on the federal bench.Motley was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Her West Indian ...
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