The Monday After: Remembering when Sandra Day O'Connor came to Canton

"Although 200 years ago, most Americans spent time discussing the merits of this Constitution, recent polls indicate that today half our citizens don't know why the Constitution was drafted nor even what is meant by the Bill of Rights."

That was the message former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who died Dec. 1, brought to Ohio in June 1987 when she spoke at a luncheon sponsored by the Stark County and Akron bar associations in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. About 500 people heard her speak at a sold-out event at the Ohio National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility at Akron-Canton Airport.

Retired Judge John R. Milligan recalled O'Connor's visit following her passing. As president of the Stark County Bar Association in 1987, he played a major role in planning her appearance.

"I was the one who reached out to her," Milligan recalled. "I remember talking to her before she came, to make the arrangements."

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Among those arrangements was the agreement that the bar associations would supply her transportation to and from Washington for her daylong visit. A jet supplied by the Timken Co. would be used to bring her from and take her back to Washington, D.C.

"She came in the morning and flew into Akron-Canton Airport," said Milligan, who then was a judge in Ohio’s 5th District Court of Appeals. "That's one of the reasons we did the luncheon there."

The first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice was flown back to the nation's capital by another pioneer among women, Stark County's Louise Timken, known in aviation history as the first woman to pilot her own Learjet.

Speech focused on the Constitution

"She was very humble," Milligan about meeting O'Connor. "And she expressed happiness at being there."

She was not the first Supreme Court Justice with whom Milligan had become acquainted.

"I had already met Potter Stewart (associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1958 to 1981) and I knew William Rehnquist (chief justice from 1986 to 2005). In fact, it might have been Rehnquist who put me onto Sandra Day O'Connor."

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In her speech, O'Connor said polls showed 75% of Americans falsely believed more than three decades ago that the Constitution guaranteed freedom of an education, 49% erroneously thought the president could suspend the Constitution during national emergencies, and 64% incorrectly had the idea that the document established English as the national language.

With such a widespread lack of understanding about our nation's charter, the bicentennial of the Constitution came as a welcome relief, she said. The anniversary afforded U.S. citizens the opportunity to learn more about the document by which the country is governed and a chance to teach their children about its valued amendents.

O'Connor's urging of Americans to become educated about the Constitution continue to ring true, Milligan believes.

"Too many people are seeking to adapt some of the provisions of the Constitution to their own particular views of what is right and wrong and what is appropriate for the government," he said.

Recalling Justice's return flight

Milligan, who had a meeting in the capital to discuss juvenile justice the next day, accompanied O'Connor on her flight back to Washington.

"I sat behind Mrs. Timken, who sat on the right side in the co-pilot's seat. Justice O'Connor sat next to me, behind the pilot, so most of the conversation was between us. The words that were exchanged have been lost to the years.

"I know we talked about Arizona," said Milligan.

According to online historical accounts, O'Connor had settled in that state in the 1960s.

"I remember talking to her about how my father-in-law wanted me to come there to practice law," he said. "I told her we might have been law partners."

Though she was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, Louise Timken flew the plane the entire trip, including landing on a short runway at Washington National Airport.

"I felt very confident (in her flight skills)," said Milligan, noting that the Timken Co. pilot added a layer of safety and reassurance as she landed. "He held his hand over hers as she landed, but he didn't touch the controls. She landed the plane."

More than 35 years have passed since Justice Sandra Day O'Connor journeyed to the Akron-Canton area. The memory of meeting her, however, remains alive in Milligan's mind.

"When she passed, I was heartened by the attention given to her and reassured by the success of a woman in a traditional man's role – a role that has practically reversed itself today."

Milligan said that when he came to the bar in 1952, there were only two women lawyers as members of the Stark County Bar Association.

"In my law school class at Michigan in 1951, there were only three women in the whole class of several hundred. And that was typical of law schools in general."

The gender ratio changed "gradually," he said, noting there was a dramatic rise in the number of female lawyers and judges in the years following the appointment of O'Connor.

"She was a pioneer who led the way for so many women."

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @gbrownREP

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: The Monday After: Remembering when Sandra Day O'Connor came to Canton