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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Greetings everyone, Welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: where we bring you a new tidbit from history every day.

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Speaker 1: Today is September. The day was September nine. Constance Baker

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Speaker 1: Motley was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Motley was the

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Speaker 1: first black woman elected to the New York State Senate

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Speaker 1: and the first black woman to be named a Federal

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Speaker 1: Court judge. Constance was the ninth of twelve children. Her parents,

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Speaker 1: Willoughby Alba Baker and Rachel Baker, immigrated to the United

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Speaker 1: States from the island of nevas. Constance's father worked as

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Speaker 1: a chef at a private club associated with Yale University,

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Speaker 1: but their family was one of modest means. Her mother

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Speaker 1: founded the New Haven chapter of the Inn Double a

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Speaker 1: c P. Though there were not a ton of black

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Speaker 1: people in New Haven when she was a child, Constance

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Speaker 1: learned about black history through her church. In high school,

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Speaker 1: she became more interested in politics, race relations, law, and

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Speaker 1: black history. During this time, she served as president of

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Speaker 1: the city's Youth Council and secretary for New Haven's Adult

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Speaker 1: Community Center. When she was fifteen years old, she decided

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Speaker 1: she wanted to become a lawyer. She graduated with honors

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Speaker 1: from New Haven High School in nineteen thirty nine, but

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Speaker 1: she could not afford to pay for her college tuition.

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Speaker 1: She began working for the local branch of the National

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Speaker 1: Youth Administration, a job she got thanks to her administrative

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Speaker 1: skills and experience in public service. After a philanthropist named

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Speaker 1: Clarence Blakesley heard her speak at a meeting, he offered

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Speaker 1: to pay her way through college in law school. She

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Speaker 1: took him up on the offer, and she went to

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Speaker 1: Fisk University, then transferred to New York University, where she

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Speaker 1: graduated with an economics degree in nineteen forty three. Three

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Speaker 1: years later, she graduated from Columbia University Law School. Constance

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Speaker 1: later said that people did not believe she would be

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Speaker 1: successful in the legal profession, but in her last year

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Speaker 1: of law school, she was selected to be a law

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Speaker 1: clerk for Third Good Marshal, the Chief Council of the

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Speaker 1: n double a CP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or

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Speaker 1: the l d F. Over the years, Marshal would become

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Speaker 1: a mentor to Constance. At the time, the LDF was

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Speaker 1: challenging the separate but equal standard that said public accommodations

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Speaker 1: could be racially segregated as long as the facilities were equal.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen forty six, she married Joel Wilson Motley, a

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Speaker 1: real estate insurance broker, and they later had a child.

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Speaker 1: She stayed at the LDF for twenty years, becoming assistant

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Speaker 1: counsel and then later the organization's principal trial lawyer. When

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Speaker 1: she was a principal legal counsel, she worked on civil

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Speaker 1: rights cases that involved ending discrimination in education, housing, employment, transportation,

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Speaker 1: and public accommodations. She prepared the draft complaint for the

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Speaker 1: case that turned into the landmark US Supreme Court case

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Speaker 1: Brown Versus Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court

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Speaker 1: ruled in favor of the LDF, and Motley would go

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Speaker 1: on to appear in state and federal courts around the

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Speaker 1: country to argue cases on segregation and issues raised by

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Speaker 1: Brown v. Board. She played an important role in many

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Speaker 1: lawsuits the inn double a CP filed in major cases

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Speaker 1: that coincided with the emergence of the civil rights movement.

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Speaker 1: From nineteen fifty eight to nineteen sixty five, Motley was

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Speaker 1: also a member of the New York State Advisory Council

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Speaker 1: on Employment and Unemployment insurance. After the death of activists

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Speaker 1: Meger Evers, with whom she had worked closely, she resigned

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Speaker 1: from the LDF and turned to government work full time.

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Speaker 1: She served out the unexpired term of New York State

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Speaker 1: Senator James Watson and one re election in nineteen sixty four.

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Speaker 1: In office, she remained focused on housing, employment, and education.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty five, she was elected president of the

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Speaker 1: Manhattan Borough, becoming the first woman to head any of

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Speaker 1: the five boroughs, and the next year, President Lyndon B.

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Speaker 1: Johnson named her a judge in the U S District

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Speaker 1: Court for the Southern District of New York. Conservative judges

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Speaker 1: and politicians protested this appointment, but she was sworn into

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Speaker 1: office in September of nineteen sixty six. Motley died of

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Speaker 1: congestive heart failure in two thousand five. Throughout her career

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Speaker 1: in law and politics, she was recognized for being a

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Speaker 1: respected jurist and for being dedicated to fighting for d segregation,

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Speaker 1: civil rights demonstrators, other issues of racism and discrimination, and

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Speaker 1: matters as varied as First Amendment, protest rights, and sex discrimination.

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Speaker 1: I'm Eves Jeffcote, and hopefully you know a little more

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Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you have

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Speaker 1: any burning questions or comments to tell us, you can

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Speaker 1: find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t D

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Speaker 1: i h C Podcast. Thanks for showing up. We'll meet

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Speaker 1: here again tomorrow. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit

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