early_life_

Stepping Up

Childhood to College

Born in El Paso, Texas, she grew up on her family's ranch, Lazy B, in Arizona. Her parents decided to send her to El Paso to live with her grandmother and attend school because it gave her better oppportunities. Sandra Day O’Connor received undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University. At that time women were not usually accepted at schools like Stanford. She completed college in three years instead of four, and graduated at the top of her class. In a 1981 school article, others noted that they "never thought of her as a woman because she didn’t isolate herself in that way".

Sandra Day O'Connor, 1950,

Sandra Day O'Connor and Media, July 7, 1981, azcentral

Rejections

Despite her exceptional academic record, O’Connor could not find a California law firm that would hire her as an attorney, because they had never hired a woman attorney and weren't about to break that tradition. O'Connor faced four rejections because of her gender. Although many places were offering jobs to her as a law secretary, she refused because it was a representation of women’s discrimination.

Jobs Before The Court

 Instead of working as a secretary, she worked with the US Army as a civilian lawyer in Germany. She later settled with her husband, John, in Phoenix, Arizona where she participated in volunteer activities and became involved in Republican party politics, while simultaneously raising three children. O’Connor then served as an assistant attorney in San Mateo County from 1965 to 1969 but for no pay. She then worked as an assistant attorney general and as a Republican state senator in the Arizona Legislature. She was the majority leader in her last two years in the state Senate before being appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. In 1974 O'Connor was elected as a Maricopa County Republican Superior Court judge and held that position until 1979. ​​​​​​​

Sandra Day O'Connor, 1986, Conde Nast Store 

"I just wanted to work at something worth doing, that was my goal" -Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor and John Jay O'Connor, 1952, NPR