Sandra Day O'Connor - Legacy, Awards

Legacy, Awards

  • The federal courthouse in Phoenix, dedicated in 2000, is named in her honor.
  • In 1985, She received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award, an award presented periodically to a woman who has demonstrated "outstanding service to humankind", from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
  • In 1998, O'Connor was awarded the Mary Harriman Community Leadership award by The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. for her work supporting bilingual education, repealing "women's work" laws that prohibited the number of hours women could work and reforming Arizona's marital laws to make marriage more equitable for women. O'Connor is a member of the Junior League of Phoenix and served as the League's President from 1966 to 1967.
  • In 2002, O'Connor was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth.
  • On July 4, 2003, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia awarded O'Connor the Liberty Medal. In her acceptance speech she stated, "one of our greatest judges, Learned Hand, explained:

    'Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.' But our understanding today must go beyond the recognition that ‘liberty lies in (our) hearts’ to the further recognition that only citizens with knowledge about the content and meaning of our constitutional guarantees of liberty are likely to cherish those concepts."

  • On September 8, 2004, Redwood City, California dedicated the courtroom of its renovated historical courthouse (now a museum) to O'Connor.
  • For her commitment to the ideals of "Duty, Honor, Country", she was awarded the Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy in 2005, becoming only the third woman to receive the award.
  • On January 2, 2006, she served as Grand Marshal at the 117th annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. She started the 92nd annual Rose Bowl Game with a coin toss on January 4. Coincidentally, the parade was conducted in heavy rain for the first time since 1955, when the Grand Marshal had been then-Chief Justice Earl Warren.
  • On April 5, 2006, Arizona State University renamed its law school the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
  • Yale University awarded O'Connor an honorary doctoral degree at its 305th commencement on May 22, 2006.
  • On September 19, 2006, she delivered the Dedication Address for the Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, North Carolina and accepted an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Earlier that day, she delivered the Fall Convocation Address at Elon University, where she accepted a Doctor of Laws degree.
  • 2007 – Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • On March 26, 2008, O'Connor was given the Harry F. Byrd Jr. '35 Public Service Award from the Virginia Military Institute.
  • On September 22, 2008, she received the 2008 Franklin Award for commitment to public service and strengthening civic participation from the National Conference on Citizenship.
  • On October 7, 2008, she was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in Denton, Texas.
  • On April 9, 2009, Sandra Day O'Connor was named Fifteenth Hendrick Fellow by the United States Coast Guard Academy.
  • O'Connor was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on August 12, 2009.
  • In October 2011, Sandra Day O'Connor received the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize during the Eighth Annual Brigham–Kanner Property Rights Conference, held at Tsingua University, Beijing, China

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