Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s Photos & Slides Are Worth A Scan. Save Them For Your Or My Piece Of History
First Female Judge On U.S. Supreme Court Broke Barriers
As Sonia Sotomayor makes daily headlines with her nomination to the United States Supreme Court, we can’t help but reflect on the first woman to serve on this country’s highest court.
No matter your political persuasion, few people would debate the historic moment that Sandra Day O’Connor became our nation’s first female justice. She was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on July 7, 1981, and the Senate unanimously confirmed her on September 21, 1981. Four days later, she was sworn in by then-Chief Justice Warren Burger.
Today’s photographic records of this monumental day wouldn’t be possible without the technological advances we’ve made. Such images are important to scan. My slides or yours, they play a unique role in shaping our country’s history and providing context to the present and beyond.
Online photos of O’Connor easily date back to her days as a student at Stanford University. She was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 26, 1930, but traveled west to California for school. She earned her law degree in 1952, the same year she married John Jay O’Connor III. The couple has three children: Scott, Brian and Jay.
Prior to the Supreme Court appointment, Sandra Day O’Connor served in many capacities and cities. She started out as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo County, California, then moved overseas to practice law in Frankfurt, Germany. Afterward, she returned to the United States, where she settled and worked in Arizona.
When members of the news media report on significant players in U.S. history, they often run a slideshow, a visual timeline. That’s why photos and negatives are critical to scan. My slides, your slides – they all have a role in history.
O’Connor was appointed, then twice re-elected, to the Arizona State Senate. She served from 1969 to 1975. She was elected to her first judgeship in 1975, for the Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoeniz, Arizona, and was serving as an Arizona Court of Appeals judge in 1981 when she received her highest nomination.
Considered a swing vote on hot-button issues such as affirmative action and abortion, O’Connor was an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court for 24 terms. In 2005, at age 75, she announced her resignation – but not before making her mark on history.
