A Scholarship In Honor Of Judge Constance Baker Motley

CHESTER, CT — Honoring and remembering a local African American hero and trailblazer, who spent her downtime in the peaceful serenity of the town of Chester, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) recently launched a Groundbreaking Scholarship Fund and Pipeline Program to Create Next Generation of Civil Rights Attorneys to Dismantle Racial Injustice and Inequality in the South. The Marshall-Motley Scholars Program.

Named in honor of civil rights legends Thurgood Marshall, who was LDF's founder and the nation’s first Black Supreme Court Justice, and Judge Constance Baker Motley, summer Chester resident, former LDF attorney and the first Black woman to become a federal judge.

“The Marshall-Motley Scholars Program (MMSP) is the next phase of our commitment to identify and invest in a new generation of brilliant minds who have a deep personal desire to bring about racial justice in the South,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF’s President and Director-Counsel in a prepared statement.

The groundbreaking program hopes to create pathways to leadership, self-sufficiency, and socio-economic progress, while developing individuals to become ambassadors and advocates for transformational change in Black communities. The MMSP is made possible by a generous anonymous donor who has committed to funding a program of 50 participants, which amounts to a $40 million investment in developing a new generation of civil rights lawyers in the South.

“I want to thank the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, an organization my mother held dear, for honoring her and her longtime friend and colleague, Thurgood Marshall, with the creation of the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program. This is a significant event,” said Joel Motley, son of the Honorable Constance Baker Motley in a prepared statement. “My mother was a fighter in a very tough struggle – one that continues today and will persist well into the future. I am grateful that the indelible mark that she left at LDF and on the broader civil rights landscape continues to inspire future generations of lawyers.”

Judge Constance Baker Motley was a pioneer known for her integrity, intellect, grit and perseverance. She was instrumental in changing the course of civil rights in the United States. The 9th of 12 children, Motley summered in Chester for 40 years, until her death in 2005. Her distinguished legal career helped to mold not only the trajectory of civil rights in the U.S. but also women’s rights and American jurisprudence. Spending two decades in the South as an NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney, she worked with both Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King, playing an integral part in the integration of southern schools after the ruling of “separate but equal” Brown vs. Board of Education landmark Supreme Court decision.

In addition, Motley, who was inducted into both the National Hall of Fame, as well as the State Women’s Hall of Fame, was the first African American woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. She won all 10 of her cases! She was also the first black woman state senator in New York and received the Presidential Citizen’s Medal.

Her summer respite on Cedar Lake Road in Chester was dedicated as a historic site on the Connecticut Freedom Trail in October of 2019, celebrating Motley and her incredible accomplishments.

(The MMSP application deadline is February 16. To learn more about MMSP and/or apply, visit: MarshallMotleyScholars.org.)