By Sandra Long Weaver
NEWARK, NJ — The 47th stamp in the United States Postal Service Black Heritage Collection was unveiled during a special ceremony sponsored by the New Jersey chapter of the Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections (ESPER) on March 26.
The forever stamp of Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American female federal judge, was designed by artist Charley Palmer. It was unveiled nationally by the USPS in New York City in January. ESPER, a 36-year-old Black organization whose members collect stamps of all varieties, wanted to do something special to honor Motley was appointed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson to the U.S.District Court for the Southern District of New York. During her career, she worked on 60 cases that went before the Supreme Court. She was the first African American woman to argue cases before the Supreme Court and won nine of the 10 cases.
Motley also attended Fisk University for one year but didn’t return after that year because of the racism she faced in the South. She didn’t understand why she had to ride in a segregated train car to get to Nashville. She continued school at New York University.
According to the USPS program, Motley played a key role in the 20 years she argued cases for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1945 to 1965. She was considered a brilliant legal strategist.
She rose to chief judge in 1982 and senior judge in 1986. President Bill Clinton awarded her Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001.
The 90-minute stamp dedication ceremony was held in the Ruth Bader Ginsberg Hall of the Rutgers Law School in Newark, N.J. Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg passed away two years ago. She attended Rutgers Law School.
Constance Royster, Esq, the niece of Motley, was the featured speaker at the event. Royster also clerked for Motley and talked about her personal relationship with her aunt, her admiration for her and the successes in her life from 1921 to 2005. Royster graduated from Rutgers Law School in 1977.
Other speakers were Susan Davis, Esq., who also clerked for Motley and graduated from Rutgers Law in 1981 and Dorothy E. Roberts, Esq. who also clerked for Motley. She is now a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania.
Della Moses Walker, the director of the New Jersey chapter of ESPER, moderated the event. The USPS sold stamps and souvenir items with Motley’s likeness during the event. There were also students from three Newark, NJ high schools who attended the event.