The African American Experience 

Constance Baker Motley, Delacorte Clock Dedication

Courtesy of New York City Parks Photo Archive, Neg. 32465-16. Born in New Haven, and a graduate of New York University (1943) and Columbia Law School (1946), Constance Baker Motley was a trailblazing African American woman. After obtaining her law degree she joined the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Education Fund, where she worked with future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. During this time, she drafted the original complaint in the landmark civil rights case Brown versus Board of Education and was also the first African American woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court of the United States. Indeed, as an African American woman her life was characterized by "firsts": New York State Senator (1964), Manhattan Borough President (1965), and Federal judge (1966). Here, in her capacity as Manhattan Borough President, she is seen delivering remarks at the dedication of the musical clock, a gift of publisher and philanthropist George Delacorte that has delighted several generations of New Yorkers.