A capacity crowd of 900 gathered under the tent in Radcliffe Yard on June 5 to celebrate Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. “It’s been an amazing century for us,” O’Connor said, pointing out that women now make up about 50 percent of law students, even though they account for only about 20 percent of the judiciary and 16 percent of equity partners in law firms. “Considering how dramatically conditions in this country changed for women in the last hundred years,” she said, “I think it’s difficult not to have optimism about our future.”

As she introduced O’Connor and awarded her the Radcliffe Institute Medal, Barbara J. Grosz, dean of the Institute, recognized the former justice for her pioneering role on the Supreme Court and for her service in all three branches of Arizona’s state government. Grosz lauded O'Connor's defense of an independent judiciary, her advocacy of the relevance of international law to the American judiciary, and her efforts to educate the public, especially students, about the United States Constitution.

“Justice Sandra Day O’Connor came to the United States Supreme Court from ‘big sky country,’ bringing respect for practical solutions, the modesty of knowing one’s place in the world, and a deep appreciation for the rule of law, which, as she has said, ‘offers the best approach to secure freedom and equality for all people,’” Grosz said.

Injecting a note of humor, Grosz pointed out that O’Connor is the first Radcliffe medalist to have been inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

The cowgirl who grew up on the Lazy B Ranch in Arizona and attended law school at Stanford University, graduating near the top of her class, had a rocky beginning as an attorney. O’Connor described how she couldn’t even land an interview for a job as a lawyer and was forced to begin her career by working for no pay as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo County, California, where she shared an office with the secretary. “I loved the work,” O'Connor said. “I was in public service and was privileged to get questions from county officers and boards and commissions that made a difference, that mattered.”

O’Connor said she took off about five years from her career when she was raising her children. “I was terribly worried I wouldn’t get another job because I had such a hard time in the first place,” she said. The audience roared when she added, “But I did. It seemed to work out reasonably well.”

Her lively speech was peppered with humor, including a reference to a “debilitating medical condition” suffered by Myra Bradwell, who applied to become a member of the bar in 1869 in Illinois. Seems Bradwell’s “condition” was the possession of two X chromosomes. “The first one was okay,” O’Connor said, “but it’s that second X chromosome that’s tough to overlook.”

Barbara J. Grosz, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Drew Gilpin Faust

Before O’Connor spoke, Grosz delivered a brief update on the Radcliffe Institute, reporting that Radcliffe, like the rest of the University and other academic institutions, has been affected by this year’s economic turmoil. “Despite the stress of these changing circumstances,” she said, “Radcliffe continues to move forward, bringing intellectual excellence and excitement to the Harvard community.” Grosz said it had been a year of “inspiring innovations and focused growth” in the Radcliffe Fellowship Program, the Schlesinger Library, and the Academic Engagement Programs.

She mentioned the Institute’s successful gender conference, “Gender and the Law: Unintended Consequences, Unsettled Questions,” which also featured a United States Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Court.

Photos by Tony Rinaldo