Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stops by Google for a conversation with Kent Walker. A pioneer in the legal profession, Justice O'Connor became the first woman appointed to the Court in 1981. Over the course of her career at the Court, she played a pivotal role in numerous rulings with far-reaching implications. Following her retirement in 2006, Justice O'Connor took on the challenge of educating students about civic engagement through the use of the Web, creating the site iCivics. We'll spend the hour discussing her thoughts on current legal and political debates, controversial decisions present and future, life at the Court and work with other justices, the evolution of the court system, and how technology is shaping civic engagement.

Could a women’s nursing school deny admission to a male applicant? That was the question before the court in Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan. Although she had never presented herself as a feminist, she showed the world that the first woman on the Supreme Court was going to make a difference when it came to gender discrimination. Simultaneously, she revealed the powerful and pragmatic position she would come to hold on the bench. Official Website: https://to.pbs.org/3sfxXQ2 | #SandraDayOConnorPBS When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the Supreme Court’s first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. Time Magazine’s cover proclaimed “Justice At Last,” and she received unanimous Senate approval. Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O’Connor grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona in an era when women were expected to become homemakers. After graduating near the top of her class at Stanford Law School, she could not convince a single law firm to interview her, so she turned to volunteer work and public service. A Republican, she served two terms in the Arizona state senate, then became a judge on the state court of appeals. During her 25 years on the Supreme Court, O’Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues, including race, gender and reproductive rights — and she was the tiebreaker on Bush v. Gore. Forty years after her confirmation, this biography recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era. This program is made possible by viewers like you. Please support your local PBS stations: https://pbs.org/donate Subscribe to the American Experience | PBS channel for more clips: https://www.youtube.com/AmericanExperiencePBS Enjoy full episodes of American Experience anytime, anywhere with the free PBS Video App: https://to.pbs.org/2QbtzhR FOLLOW US: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanExperiencePBS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmExperiencePBS/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/AmericanExperiencePBS/ Shop: https://shop.pbs.org/

Sandra Day O'Connor made Supreme Court history as the first female justice to serve on the bench. In her new book, "Out of Order," she explores other aspects of history at the high court, as well as her own approach to service. O'Connor talks with Judy Woodruff about making tough decisions and women in the legal profession.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was interviewed by Jan Smith, for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Justice O'Connor is depicted in the "The Four Justices" painting by artist Nelson Shanks, along with Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. On October 28, 2013, the National Portrait Gallery celebrated the arrival of Nelson Shanks’s "The Four Justices," a tribute to the four female justices who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court. The work is monumental; it measures approximately seven feet by five-and-a-half feet (in its custom-made frame it is almost nine-and-a-half feet by eight feet) and holds the west wall of the National Historic Landmark Building’s second-floor rotunda. Of the work, NPG Chief Curator Brandon Fortune noted, “The National Portrait Gallery is honored to have such an ambitious group portrait on loan to the museum.” The work is based on sittings the justices had with Shanks; the two senior justices are seated and the recent appointees standing. Although the logistics of bringing three active and one retired justice into his studio was challenging, Shanks prefers to draw from life, which he feels brings each sitter’s distinct presence into his work. “If you can imagine a painting—no matter how facile—that doesn’t show character, something is missing,” Shanks noted in an interview with NPG. “Representation of character is really what counts to me.” Only men had sat on the bench of the Supreme Court until President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981. After O’Connor, the next woman to receive an appointment was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a nominee of President Bill Clinton in 1993. President Barack Obama appointed Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan are still on the bench; O’Connor retired in 2006. Shanks’s oil on canvas painting is on loan to the National Portrait Gallery from Ian and Annette Cumming; they have also loaned their portrait of mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves by Shanks to NPG. Shanks is also responsible for two presidential portraits in the Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection: one of President Reagan created in 1989, and one of President Clinton painted in 2005.

Retired Supreme Court justice gives the 2007 Milton Konvitz Memorial Lecture

The Supreme Court Historical Society and the Freedom Forum celebrated the 30th Anniversary of Sandra Day O'Connor's appointment to the Supreme Court. President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court of the United States on September 22, 1981. The Senate confirmed the appointment on September 25, 1981, making O'Connor the first female Associate Justice in the history of the Court. Justice O'Connor served on the Supreme Court for twenty-four years and retired on January 31, 2006. Held at The Annenberg Theater Newseum on April 11th 2012.