JFK Greatest Rights President of Century by Constance B. Motley

Press Release
November 30, 1963

JFK Greatest Rights President of Century by Constance B. Motley preview

Mrs. Motley Calls JFK Greatest Rights President of Century

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  • Press Releases, Volume 1. JFK Greatest Rights President of Century by Constance B. Motley, 1963. 147e169d-b492-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/6c08df08-aa46-4a6f-ad97-1f5060e6bbe0/jfk-greatest-rights-president-of-century-by-constance-b-motley. Accessed July 01, 2025.

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    PRESS RELEASE, 

“NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
10 COLUMBUS CIRCLE «+ NEW YORK19,N.Y. © JUdson 6-8397 

DR. ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS JACK GREENBERG CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY 
President Director-Counsel Associate Counsel 

JFK GREATEST RIGHTS PRESIDENT 
OF. CENTURY:- CONSTANCE B. MOTLEY 

November 30, 1963 

NEW YORK---The loss of John Fitzgerald Kennedy has "deprived American 
Negroes of the greatest presidential advocate of equal rights this 
century has yet heard," 

So spoke Constance Baker Motley, history making civil rights 
attorney and associate counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educa- 

tional Fund, 

Mzs. Motley's statement was the highpoint of a two day Women 
of Conscience Civil Ri s Conference svonsoced by the National Coun- 
cil of Women of the United States, here this week. 

The attractive attorney added that the nation's loss, “has not 
deprived us of the vision which he, (President Kennedy) encouraged, 
of a truly desegregated society...." 

The NOW was founded in 1888 by Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, 
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others. Since then it has grown to include 
56 Councils throvgnout the free world. It serves as a clearing house 
for women orgésnizational activities. 

Mrs. Motley said that "official zesistance" to ending segrega- 
tion has led to widespread disrespect for law and order, Moreover, 
"it has stimulated white citizen resistance in form of economic re- 
taliation against Negroes," seeking freedom, she continued. 

In conclusion, Mrs. Motley told NC! members and their President, 
Sophia Yarnall Jacobs, that the Negro vote is the key to lowering 
racial injustices, 

"That is why current voter education and registration campaigns 
are a must. These efforts need sheer physical manpower, 

"If every race relations conference would end with the dispatch 
of a corp of volunteers to a southern community for two or more weeks 
to help register Negroes, the picture would change," she said, 

The NOV's first Women of Conscience Civil Rights Conference wes 
planned and coordinated by Research and Action Associates, a team of 

social scientists.

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