- Collection:
- Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives
- Title:
- Weddington talks about arguing Roe v Wade before the Supreme Court (2:18)
- Creator:
- Weddington, Sarah Ragle
- Contributor to Resource:
- Ball, Martha Charlene, 1943-
Fowlkes, Diane L., 1939- - Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1998-04-15
- Subject:
- Feminism
Social movements
Women's studies - Location:
- United States, Texas, Comal County, 29.80818, -98.27825
- Medium:
- audiocassettes
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Sarah Weddington was born in Abilene, Texas in 1945. After receiving her J.D. degree from the University of Texas, School of Law in 1967, Weddington began a career in law and politics, with a strong interest in women's rights. In 1973, shortly after completing law school, Weddington worked pro bono to represent a group of women who had established an abortion referral program at the University of Texas. Through this association, she successfully argued the landmark case Roe v Wade, and in doing so, became the youngest person to win a case before the Supreme Court. Also in 1973, Weddington began her political career by becoming the first woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives. She continued to serve in this position for three terms. From 1978 until 1981, Weddington served as Assistant to President Jimmy Carter and directed the Administration's work on women's issues and leadership outreach. In 1977, she became the first woman to hold the position of General Counsel of the US Department of Agriculture, and was the first female Director of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations from 1983 until 1985. In addition to her successful political career, Weddington worked with the community to establish women's equal rights by helping to establish the Foundation for Women's Resources. This organization sponsored activities such as the Leadership Texas and Leadership America programs and created the Women's Museum that opened in Dallas in September 2000. Because of her extensive work in politics and community service, especially through women's advocacy, Weddington has received numerous awards and honors: In 1999 she was named Texas Woman of the Century by the Women's Chamber of Commerce of Texas and in 1998 was given the Leadership America's Hummingbird Award for contributions toward the advancement of women's leadership. Also, the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders awarded Weddington the Woman of Distinction Award (1993), and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America gave her the Margaret Sanger Award, the highest award of the organization. She was named one of Esquire Magazine's top ten ""Outstanding Women in America"" and was given the Ladies' Home Journal Woman of the Future Award. Weddington also holds honorary doctorates from McMurray University, Hamilton College, Austin College, Southwestern University, and Nova Southeastern University.
A native of Texas, Sarah Weddington was the youngest women to successfully argue a case in the Supreme Court, and her oral history provides a unique insight into that historic case, Roe v Wade. Weddington begins by describing her education, and her decision to study law at a time when women were often told, "women don't, women can't, women shouldn't." She goes on to discuss her attempt to get a credit card in her own name, but, as a married women, was refused without her husband's signature. She says, "So of course I ran for the [Texas State] legislature and passed the Equal Credit Bill, and then went back and got my credit card."Weddington discusses her growing awareness of the need for reproductive rights information, resources, and access. She goes on to describe the background of the case Roe v Wade, and her dealings with Margie Pitts Hames, who argued the Georgia case Doe v Bolton. She also talks about the day of the hearing, and the "majesty of the moment." From 1978 to 1981, Weddington worked for the Carter administration, and she discusses the appointments and opportunities he provided for women during his administration. Weddington ends by warning that, depending on Supreme Court appointments, Roe v Wade could be overturned, and that we should be wary of complacency regarding the issue of reproductive rights.
Transcript of this excerpt: DF: Does anything stand out in your memory now about actually arguing the case before the Supreme Court? You know, any particular Justices that threw curves or anything like that? SW: You know, as you look back on an argument like that -- and I think it's very much like when you take a really important exam, and when you leave, you can't remember at all what you said or what they said -- and so you really have to say to other people, "What did I say? What did they ask?" DF: "What happened?" SW: "What happened?" That's right. So the main things I remember are -- oh, for example, in the lawyers' lounge, Margie [Pitts Hames] and I were in there just before going into the courtroom, and we were both going through our notes just one last time, just to be sure we had it all down, and discovered there was no ladies' room, only a men's room. Now, probably today we'd just post somebody at the door and forget about it, but we -- I don't know. I didn't think about that at the time. So, I discovered that the ladies' room was in the basement and that we had to hurry down the hall and get to the downstairs and get back to the courtroom, and we were nervous enough anyway. Although I was going first, Margie was going second, so she knew she had at least another hour. Today, as of about three or four years ago, there is a women's room in the lawyers' lounge, so it has taken twenty-some-odd years, but at least today there is one. I can remember sort of the majesty of the moment, all the marble, the hushed tones, the judges in their black robes, and the feelings. In the courtroom that day were the prominent people on this issue from both sides. I remember -- I don't remember seeing her, don't remember talking to her, but I saw Betty Freidan at one point [later] and she said she was in the courtroom that day, that that was the first time she had ever gone to a Supreme Court hearing, and she used a phrase I've never forgotten. She said, "My historical Geiger counter was clicking." And I think that's the way a lot of people felt that day. We knew whatever happened would be very important, very historic. And then of course we left having no idea if we had won or lost. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/coles/id/2032
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/coles:2032/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Extent:
- 18 pages (one audio cassette)
- Original Collection:
- Georgia Women's Movement Project Collection
Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
