Constance Baker Motley Public Memorials Created by Chester Organizations
The Judge Constance Baker Motley Preserve and Little Rock Nine Hiking Trail, Chester Land Trust
Above Photo Courtesy CT Land Conservation Council
The Judge Constance Baker Motley Preserve in Chester To further honor Judge Motley and her legacy, the Chester Land Trust purchased the former property of Judge Motley in 2016, and created the 7-acre Constance Baker Motley Nature Preserve in 2017. It is now open to the public for recreation and quiet contemplation.
CT Freedom Trail Site Award In 2018, the State of Connecticut designated both The Preserve and Motley’s 1745 home (now privately owned) a CT Freedom Trail Heritage Site, one of 160 in the state. The designation marks and celebrates the lives of African Americans in CT who contributed to justice and human freedom. Watch the state’s formal induction ceremony in 2020 here.
Little Rock Nine Hiking Trail Created in 2020 on the Motley Preserve
Entry to the Little Rock Nine Hiking Trail on the Constance Baker Motley Preserve
In 2020, the Chester Land Trust also built the popular “Little Rock Nine” hiking trail within The Preserve, memorializing one of Motley’s most significant and famous school desegregation cases in Little Rock, AR in 1957. The Chester Historical Society provided an outdoor story board plaque (see below) detailing the important history of that case for the educational benefit of visitors and hikers. The Preserve and the Little Rock Nine hiking trail in Chester are featured in this Rockfall Foundation website: “Off the Beaten Path: Constance Baker Motley Preserve”
Little Rock Nine Trail Plaque at the Motley Preserve
Outdoor Plaque about the history of Motley’s 1957 Little Rock Nine legal case, created and written by the Chester Historical Society and mounted at the foot of the Little Rock Nine Hiking Trail on the Constance Baker Motley Preserve in Chester, CT (Plaque measures 2 Ft W x 1.5 Ft H)
Chester Rotary Annual Motley Scholarship
Each year since 2005, when Judge Motley died, the Rotary Club of Chester provides a scholarship to a young girl from New Haven to attend the YMCA Camp Hazen in Chester to honor the legacy of Constance Baker Motley. The original financier of the land the Camp was built on was Clarence Blakeslee in 1920. He was also Motley’s educational benefactor in the 1940s, providing funding for both her undergraduate degree at New York University and her law degree from Columbia University. By providing a scholarship in her name, the Rotary honors both.
Constance Baker Motley Traveling Exhibit
Set up originally at Chester Town Hall to celebrate Motley’s 100th birthday anniversary in 2021, the portable exhibit is a pop-up display covering Motley’s three careers as well as her life in Chester. Created by the Chester Historical Society, it is available to borrow for use in schools and businesses in Chester or surrounding towns. It can be displayed for an educational event or for another occasion on a short or long-term basis. Contact the Chester Historical Society for further information. This pop-up Exhibit can be disassembled, and is portable. It is available for use in schools, public spaces or with one-time events—for short, or longer periods.
