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Retired justice visits = SF=20

By=20 SUSAN CLARK PORTER
Monday,=20 October 22, 2007 10:32 AM CDT

SENECA FALLS - As the first woman = appointed=20 to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor = is as=20 much a trailblazer as the women who organized = the first=20 women's rights convention here in 1848. And in = homage to=20 those kindred spirits, O'Connor organized a = document=20 signing of her own Sunday during her visit to = the=20 Women's Rights National Historical = Park.

Before=20 leaving, she and the 20 women lawyers who = accompanied=20 her signed their names on the back of a copy of = the=20 Declaration of Sentiments - the document = produced by the=20 1848 convention - in appreciation of the = original=20 signers and to demonstrate their own commitment = to=20 furthering the cause of women's = rights.

O'Connor=20 and her group toured both the women's rights = park and=20 the Hall of Fame early yesterday afternoon = before ending=20 their visit at ZuZu's Caf=EF=BF=BD on Fall=20 Street.

O'Connor was inducted into the = Hall of=20 Fame in 1995 but did not attend that ceremony = and had=20 never before visited Seneca Falls, often = referred to as=20 the birthplace of women's rights. O'Connor, who = retired=20 from the court last year, is visiting Cornell = Law School=20 this week as a Distinguished Jurist in=20 Residence.

Yesterday's trip was organized = by=20 Norma Schwab, wife of law school dean Stewart = Schwab,=20 who clerked for O'Connor on the Supreme Court in = 1982-83.


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Norma Schwab is herself a lawyer and said the = common=20 thread among yesterday's group was that all were = women,=20 lawyers and her friends. Some live in Ithaca, = but others=20 came from places further afield, including New = York=20 City, Long Island and = Connecticut.

=E2=80=9CWe are all=20 women lawyers from different walks of life and = different=20 walks of the law,=E2=80=9D Schwab = said.

O'Connor's first=20 stopped at the national park, where she quickly = pointed=20 to the statues of the convention organizers and=20 exclaimed =E2=80=9CLook at all the women over = there!=E2=80=9D

She=20 asked Park Superintendent Tina Orcutt and = Interpretive=20 Ranger John Stoudt to =E2=80=9Ctell me who is = who.=E2=80=9D=20

Later, outside in the remains Wesleyan Chapel = where=20 the convention was held, Orcutt discussed the = site=20 itself, which features the chapel's original = interior=20 walls. Plans call for enclosing the site to = protect it=20 from further deterioration.

=E2=80=9CThis = is very=20 important, this site, because the women here = today would=20 not have jobs if this convention had not been = held in=20 1848,=E2=80=9D O'Connor said.

The former = justice was as=20 much a tour leader as the rangers, and she urged = her=20 group to sit on the steps behind the chapel as = Franci=20 Blassberg of New York City read excerpts from = Elizabeth=20 Cady Stanton's remarks at the 1848 convention. = At the=20 end, Blassberg added a comment of her own, = calling for=20 the group to celebrate the journey started by = the=20 convention organizers and to dedicate themselves = =E2=80=9Cin the=20 presence of Justice O'Connor, one of our true = leaders=E2=80=9D=20 to the work that remains to be done.

In=20 describing the 1848 convention, Stoudt said some = of the=20 ideas raised - including the rights of women to = vote,=20 keep wages and own property - were then = revolutionary=20 and that only 100 of the approximately 300 who = attended=20 the convention felt comfortable signing the = Declaration=20 of Sentiments.=20

=E2=80=9CYou yourselves are the embodiment of = some of the=20 goals that Elizabeth Cady Stanton and some of = the people=20 at the convention wanted to achieve,=E2=80=9D = Stoudt=20 said.

From the chapel, it was on to = Stanton's=20 home on the other side of the canal, which = Stoudt=20 explained was purchased in 1847 by Elizabeth = Cady=20 Stanton's father, Henry, himself a lawyer, judge = and=20 politician.

Stoudt said that even though = Henry=20 Stanton disagreed with his daughter's stance on = women's=20 rights, he bought a house and gave it to her - = one of=20 only two ways a woman could own property at that = time.

Stoudt also told O'Connor that even = though=20 his daughter read law books and had an interest = in the=20 field, Henry Stanton had hoped one of his = several sons=20 would take up law. But all died = young.

Stoudt=20 shared Stanton's recollection in her = autobiography of=20 consoling her father when his last son died, and = his=20 wish that Elizabeth had been a = boy.

=E2=80=9CEven though=20 he lived with a bright and capable daughter, it = was=20 inconceivable to him she could even be a = lawyer,=E2=80=9D=20 O'Connor said.

The last stop on the = group's tour=20 was the Hall of Fame.

=E2=80=9CIt's = finally great to be=20 here,=E2=80=9D O'Connor said after signing the = guest book and=20 being greeted by board member Marilyn=20 Bero.

Executive Director Christine = Moulton led=20 O'Connor to her place on the wall, where she = said she=20 was in good company with Constance Baker Motley = and=20 Elizabeth Dole on either side. O'Connor then = noted 19th-=20 and early 20th-century women lawyers who had = been=20 inducted and their = accomplishments.

=E2=80=9CBelva=20 Lockwood argued some cases at the Supreme Court = and was=20 noted for riding her three-wheeled bicycle = around=20 Washington,=E2=80=9D she said. =E2=80=9CAnd Myra = Bradwell [America's=20 first female lawyer] tried hard to be admitted = to the=20 bar.=E2=80=9D

As Moulton explained the = selection process=20 and the hall's planned move to the Seneca = Knitting Mill=20 - which will allow it to expand from 5,000 to = 36,000=20 square feet - O'Connor inspected a glass case = displaying=20 the belongings of Amelia Earhart. She pointed = them out=20 to Orcutt's 8-year-old daughter, Kayla, and = explained=20 the aviator's accomplishments and=20 significance.

=E2=80=9CI think = you=EF=BF=BDre making a wonderful=20 move to expand,=E2=80=9D O'Connor said. = =E2=80=9CIt's good to have some=20 memorabilia on display.=E2=80=9D

Sharon = Dornfeld of=20 Connecticut said meeting O'Connor and = accompanying her=20 to the sites where women's rights were first = formally=20 proposed was a moving = experience.

=E2=80=9CIt's a thrill=20 for women in general, but for women lawyers in=20 particular,=E2=80=9D Dornfeld said.

fltimes@fltimes.com=20

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