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Classroom · Grades 6–12

Constance Baker Motley

A court victory becomes real only when someone enforces it: Motley turned Brown v. Board of Education from a ruling into open doors, one case at a time.

Lesson at a Glance

Grades
Grades 6–12
Time
One class period (20–40 minutes)
Standards
NCSS Themes 6 (Power, Authority, and Governance) and 10 (Civic Ideals and Practices); C3 D2.Civ.12, D2.His.14
Reading
Constance Baker Motley (profile)

Big Idea

A court victory becomes real only when someone enforces it: Motley turned Brown v. Board of Education from a ruling into open doors, one case at a time.

Before Class

Students read the profile of Constance Baker Motley, including the Key Dates and Sources.

Discussion Questions

  1. Motley won nine of her ten Supreme Court arguments. What skills and strategies does that record suggest?
  2. Why did the NAACP Legal Defense Fund have to litigate campus by campus after Brown? What does that reveal about how change happens after a landmark ruling?
  3. Motley was often the only Black woman in the courtroom. How might her presence have mattered to clients such as James Meredith, and to those watching?
  4. Motley moved from civil rights lawyer to state senator, borough president, and federal judge. How do these roles differ in their power to bring about change?

Activity

Students read the National Archives’ presentation of Brown v. Board of Education, focusing on the Court’s central holding. Then, using the profile, they build a timeline from 1954 to 1962 of the cases Motley litigated to enforce that holding, ending with James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi. In a closing discussion, the class considers why a single ruling required years of further litigation and what that suggests about the limits of court decisions.

Primary Sources

Cite this page
MLA
“Classroom lesson: Constance Baker Motley.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/classroom/constance-baker-motley/.
APA
Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). Classroom lesson: Constance Baker Motley. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/classroom/constance-baker-motley/
Chicago
Black-History.com Editors. “Classroom lesson: Constance Baker Motley.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/classroom/constance-baker-motley/.
Editorial Note

By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.

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