On September 25, 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female Supreme Court Justice.
September 25. 2018: Governor Doug Ducey signed a proclamation making it Sandra Day O’Connor Day. The day-long celebration included constitution law presentations, roundtable discussions, and first-hand recollections of the state’s most famous member of the judiciary.
On March 24, 2020, HB 2625 was signed into law in Arizona by Governor Doug Ducey, creating Sandra Day O’Connor Civics Celebration Day on September 25th of each year.
“It’s all right to be the first to do something, but I didn’t want to be the last woman on the Supreme Court,”
-Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
Podcast with Sarah Suggs, President, and CEO of the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy
Podcast Episode: The Legacy of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor with Sarah Suggs
Suggested Lessons from our Educating for American Democracy Partners
- Check out our Civic Literacy Curriculum!
- Sandra Day O’Connor Lesson (Bill of Rights Institute)
- The Four Justices Portrait and Lessons (National Portrait Gallery)
Grade Level Specific Lessons
Kindergarten-2nd Grade
- Children’s Literature
- Lesson Plan – Portrait of a Hero (NEH EDSITEment)
- Lesson Plan – The Statue of Liberty (NEH EDSITEment)
Grades 3-5
- Lesson Plan – Bill of Rights (Constitution Center)
- Lesson Plan – The Preamble to the Constitution (Constitutional Rights Foundation)
- Lesson Plan – Votes for Women! (The Civic Circle)
- Lesson Plan – My Town and the Three Branches of Government (Constitutional Rights Foundation)
Grades 6-8
- iCivics Games
- Lesson Plan – Ideals and Images (Smithsonian)
- Lesson Plan – My Fellow Citizen (Smithsonian)
- Lesson Plan – The Constitution (Bill of Rights Institute)
Grades 9-12
Government/Economics
- Government (ASU CPTL Civic Literacy Curriculum)
- Economics Related Clauses in the Constitution (Bill of Rights Institute)
- Economics Lessons (Bill of Rights Institute)
- Lesson Plan – Where Do You Stand? Voting (Smithsonian)
- Lesson Plan – The Structure of the National Government (Bill of Rights Institute)
U.S. History
World History
- Lesson Plan – Images of the New World (NEH EDSITEment)
- Lesson Plan – Is Democracy in Decline? (Constitutional Rights Foundation)