Research Catalog

Title

Civil rights queen : Constance Baker Motley and the struggle for equality / Tomiko Brown-Nagin.

Author

Brown-Nagin, Tomiko, 1970-

Publication

• New York : Pantheon Books, [2022]
• ©2022

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

x, 497 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"Born to an aspirational blue-collar family during the Great Depression, Constance Baker Motley was expected to find herself a good career as a hair dresser. Instead, she became the first black woman to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court, the first of ten she would eventually argue. The only black woman member in the legal team at the NAACP's Inc. Fund at the time, she defended Martin Luther King in Birmingham, helped to argue in Brown vs. The Board of Education, and played a critical role in vanquishing Jim Crow laws throughout the South. She was the first black woman elected to the state Senate in New York, the first woman elected Manhattan Borough President, and the first black woman appointed to the federal judiciary. Civil Rights Queen captures the story of a remarkable American life, a figure who remade law and inspired the imaginations of African Americans across the country. Burnished with an extraordinary wealth of research, award-winning, esteemed Civil Rights and legal historian and dean of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Tomiko Brown-Nagin brings Motley to life in these pages. Brown-Nagin compels us to ponder some of our most timeless and urgent questions-how do the historically marginalized access the corridors of power? What is the price of the ticket? How does access to power shape individuals committed to social justice? In Civil Rights Queen, she dramatically fills out the picture of some of the most profound judicial and societal change made in twentieth-century America"--

Alternative Title

Constance Baker Motley and the struggle for equality

Subject

• Motley, Constance Baker, 1921-2005
• Judges > New York (State) > Biography
• African American judges > New York (State) > Biography
• African American women lawyers > New York (State) > Biography
• Women lawyers > New York (State) > Biography
• Women judges > New York (State) > Biography
• Lawyers > New York (State) > Biography
• Civil rights workers > New York (State) > Biography
• Civil rights lawyers > New York (State) > Biography
• Civil rights > United States
• Equality before the law > United States
• African American judges
• Civil rights
• Civil rights workers
• Equality before the law
• Judges
• Lawyers
• Women judges
• New York (State)
• United States

Genre/Form

Biographies.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 445-468) and index.

Contents

Part I. Beginnings. "The base of this great ambition" : Nevis and New Haven ; "I discovered myself" : the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the dawn of a political conscience ; "Like a fairy tale" : Black exceptionalism, philanthropy, and a path to higher education ; A fortuitous meeting with "Mr. Civil Rights" : Thurgood Marshall and an offer not to be refused ; "They hovered over and cared for each other" : the uncommon union of Constance Baker and Joel Motley Jr. -- Part II. Becoming the civil rights queen. "A professional woman" : Breaking barriers at work and in the courtroom ; "We all felt the excruciating pressure" : making history in Brown v. Board of Education ; "The fight has just begun" : the decade-long slog to desegregate the University of Florida College of Law ; "We made a mistake" : "poor character," "loose morals," and untold sacrifices in pursuit of higher education at the University of Alabama -- Part III. The heights and depths of life as a symbol and agent of change. The "best plaintiffs ever" : desegregating the University of Georgia ; A "difficulty with the idea of a woman" : the setback of 1961 ; "That's your case" : James Meredith and the battle to desegregate the University of Mississippi ; "I am human after all" : trauma and hardship in the long battle at Ole Miss ; An "eye-opening experience" : the Birmingham civil rights campaign -- Part IV. A season in politics. "An ideal candidate" : the making of a political progressive ; "Crisis of leadership" : a clash between radical and reform politics ; "Not a feminist" : the Manhattan Borough presidency -- Part V. On the bench. "First" : the judicial confirmation ; "A tough old bird" : Judge Motley's court ; "The weeping and the wailing" : the Black Panther Party, the FBI, and the Huggins Family ; "Pawns in a very dangerous game" : crime, punishment, and prisoners' rights ; A "woman lawyer" and a "woman judge" : making opportunity for women in law ; "For a girl, you know a lot about sports" : the New York Yankees strike out in Judge Motley's courtroom ; No "protecting angel" : Blacks, Latinos, and ordinary people in Judge Motley's courtroom -- Epilogue: legacies.

Call Number

Sc E 22-1048

ISBN

• 9781524747183
• 1524747181

LCCN

2021022495

OCLC

1274172133

Author

Brown-Nagin, Tomiko, 1970- author.

Title

Civil rights queen : Constance Baker Motley and the struggle for equality / Tomiko Brown-Nagin.

Publisher

New York : Pantheon Books, [2022]

Copyright Date

©2022

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 445-468) and index.

Note

Schomburg copy with dust jacket.

Local Subject

Black author.

Research Call Number

Sc E 22-1048