Constance Baker Motley was born on September 14, 1921, in New Haven, Connecticut.  She was the ninth child in a family of twelve children.  Her parents were emigrants from the island of Nevis in the West Indies. Motley grew up attending New Haven’s integrated public schools and soon became an avid reader.  She was inspired by books concerning civil rights heroes and by the age of 15, she had decided to become a lawyer.  Due to her family’s economic situation, she could not afford to attend college immediately after graduating high school.  Instead, she took up a job as a maid for a short time before finding a job with the National Youth Administration.  Giving a speech at the local community center one night, a wealthy white contractor, Clarence Blakeslee, was so impressed that he offered to pay for her to attend college. Motley began her college career at Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee in 1941. In 1943, she transferred to New York University where she received her bachelor’s degree in economics.   In 1944, she became the first black woman to be accepted into Columbia Law School, where she met Thurgood Marshall, chief counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.  Motley … Continue reading Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005)