Motley, Constance Baker

Born September 14, 1921, in New Haven, CT
Died September 28, 2005, in New York, NY

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Nominated by Lyndon B. Johnson on January 26, 1966, to a seat vacated by Archie O. Dawson. Confirmed by the Senate on August 30, 1966, and received commission on August 30, 1966. Served as chief judge, 1982-1986. Assumed senior status on September 30, 1986. Service terminated on September 28, 2005, due to death.

Education:
New York University, B.A., 1943
Columbia Law School, LL.B., 1946

Professional Career:

Attorney, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 1945-1965
Member, New York State Advisory Council on Employment and Unemployment Insurance, 1958-1964
State senator, New York, 1964-1965
Borough president, Manhattan, New York, 1965-1966
Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 1982-1983

Bibliography

Brown-Nagin, Tomiko. Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality. New York: Pantheon Books, 2022.

Ford, Gary L., Jr. Constance Baker Motley: One Woman's Fight for Civil Rights and Equal Justice under Law. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2017.

Motley, Constance Baker. Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1999.

Manuscript Collections

Columbia University
New York, N.Y.
Constance Baker Motley papers, 1935-2006.

Smith College
Sophia Smith Collection
Northampton, Mass.
Constance Baker Motley papers, 1948-1988.
ca. 5.5 linear ft.; collection contains correspondence, speeches, biographical material, interviews, legal documents, photographs, memorabilia, and other material relating to Motley's career as a civil rights lawyer, state senator, borough president, and federal judge.

Oral History

Motley, Constance Baker. "An Interview with Judge Constance Baker Motley." Interview conducted by Alfred C. Aman. Indiana University, Bloomington, School of Law, 1988. Videotape, 105 minutes.

Motley, Constance Baker. "Oral history interview with Constance Baker Motley." Interview recorded in 2002 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary commemoration of the integration of the University of Mississippi. Open Doors Oral History Project, University of Mississippi, Oxford, 2002-2003. 1 sound cassette and 1 videodisc, 18 minutes.

Motley, Constance Baker. Oral history interview conducted by William A. Elwood. William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1984-1989. Videotape.

Motley, Constance Baker. Oral history interview conducted by Peggy Lamson, ca. 1967. Peggy Lamson papers, Radcliffe College, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women, Cambridge, Mass., 1973. Transcript; cassette phonotapes, 3 reels.

Motley, Constance Baker. "The Reminiscences of Constance Baker Motley." Interview conducted in 1978 by Kitty Gellhorn. Oral History Research Office, Butler Library, Columbia University, New York, 1978. Transcript, 801 pages.

Portraits

[Constance B. Motley, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left]; artist unknown; Photograph; 1965; New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., ref. #: LC-USZ62-122141.

Mrs. Constance Baker Motley Associate Counsel NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; by the Moss Photo Service; Photograph; ca. 1963; New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., ref. #: LC-USZ62-125820.

Newly sworn-in Federal Judge Constance Baker Motley is seen at the U.S. Courthouse in New York, Sept. 9, 1966; by Eddie Adams; Photograph; Sept. 9, 1966; Associated Press Images, New York, N.Y., ref. #: 660909058.

Federal Judicial Center

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Motley, Constance Baker