国立アメリカ歴史博物館さんのインスタグラム写真 - (国立アメリカ歴史博物館Instagram)「Today we’re reflecting on the life and work of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The first woman to serve on the Supreme Court after 101 men, O’Connor took her role as “the first” seriously. She opened the final branch of the federal government to women with her appointment in 1981, and she believed that her performance would facilitate the appointment of more women to the nation’s highest court. In her 25 years on the bench, O'Connor earned a reputation as a pragmatic centrist voice and powerful swing vote, deciding cases concerning reproductive rights, affirmative action, privacy rights, campaign finance, and the line between church and state. When she graduated from Stanford Law in 1952, O’Connor couldn’t find a law firm in Arizona that would hire a woman attorney. Undeterred, she worked for free for the county attorney of San Mateo and eventually became a deputy county attorney. O’Connor’s talent didn’t go unnoticed for long. After serving as the assistant attorney general of Arizona, she became an Arizona state senator and the majority leader of the Arizona State Senate. In 1975 she won a seat on the Superior Court of Maricopa County and was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court of Appeals four years later. She made history in 1981 when she was unanimously approved by the Senate as the first woman Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. After her retirement in 2006, O’Connor became a "circuit rider" for SCOTUS, serving as a visiting judge and hearing cases in federal district courts and courts of appeals. In 2009 she founded iCivics, to provide civics education and encourage young people to be active participants in American democracy. In 1981 the museum asked O’Connor to donate the robe she wore when she was sworn in. She wrote in Smithsonian Magazine about her fondness of the robe’s traditional symbolism. “It shows that all of us judges are engaged in upholding the Constitution and the role of the law,” she said. “We have a common responsibility.” Her robe also had a difference: it’s shorter than the other justice’s robes, hemmed to fall to the length of a skirt. Museum objects always tell a story. 📷: O'Connor's robe」12月2日 4時00分