Quick — name a civil rights leader. You may think about Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks. Yet many others worked to give Black people equal rights. Constance Baker Motley did that as a lawyer, judge, and lawmaker. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) just honored the legend of the law with a stamp.
Constance Baker Motley was the first Black woman to argue a case at the Supreme Court. That’s the top court in the United States. She was also the first African American woman to be a judge. Motley used the power of the law to help end . The USPS showed off her stamp in a ceremony on January 31.
Motley was born in 1921 in Connecticut. Growing up, she rarely had to deal with racist laws. That changed when she traveled to Tennessee for college. There was still segregation there. Motley had to ride in a train car for Black people only. She described feeling “frightened and humiliated.” Motley helped make sure other Black people would not feel the same way.
In 1945, Motley began working for Thurgood Marshall. He later became the first Black justice for the Supreme Court. Motley spent 20 years at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. She was the lawyer in many civil rights cases. Motley sued the University of Mississippi because it didn’t allow Black students. She also represented Martin Luther King Jr. after he was arrested for marching in Alabama in 1963.
Motley argued 10 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. She won nine of them.
But Motley was much more than a great lawyer. She was a lawmaker. In 1964, she was elected to the New York State Senate. She became the first Black woman to do that. In 1965, Motley became the Manhattan borough president. She was the first woman with that top job in New York City.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson chose Motley to be a judge on the U.S. District Court. That made her the first Black woman on the federal bench. She rose to chief judge in 1982. Then she became senior judge in 1986.
The USPS Motley’s stamp in New York City. People gave speeches about the lawmaker. That includes Charly Palmer, the artist of the stamp. Palmer called Motley “one of the greatest American heroes of all time.” He told News-O-Matic she’s “an inspiration for everyone.” Palmer explained it’s “for her bravery, strength, calmness, and intelligence.”
Constance Royster was at the stamp ceremony too. She is Constance Baker Motley’s niece. “It never felt like hers was a household name among the giants of the civil rights movement,” said Royster. Yet she explained that behind many of those famous leaders “was a great servant of the law: Constance Baker Motley.”
Motley died in 2005. But anyone can use her stamp to mail a letter in the United States “forever.” And now people will remember Constance Baker Motley — and her name — forever.
Updated February 15, 2024, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
