One of twelve children and the daughter of immigrants, Constance Baker Motley rose to become the first Black woman to ever argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Civil Rights Movement’s successes were a result of the strength and sacrifice of thousands of women. In roles big and small, the victories of the movement belong to them as well. LDF’s founding team included many women whose accomplishments are central to our work today. After working with LDF founder Thurgood Marshall, Motley be
came LDF’s first female attorney and wrote the original complaint in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education.
Devoted to the cause of equal justice, Motley faced the danger of her work head-on. From driving through Ku Klux Klan territory to defend the right of Black students to attend the University of Georgia to spending hours in county jails across the Deep South helping to secure the release of detained civil rights activists like Martin Luther King, Jr.
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