Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day, September 1971, women's rights activist and law professor Polly Murray writes a letter

to President Richard Nixon asking for consideration for the position vacated by

Justice Hugo L Black on the Supreme Court.

Polymory writes, quote, by the time this letter reaches the White House, I suspect

you will have announced your choice to fill the vacancy

left by Mr. Justice Hugo Black's resignation.

Since I did not expect you to see this letter, it does no harm to amuse your administrative

and secretarial staff as it passes up and down the line on its

way to the waste basket.

Incredible letter to write to the President of the United States, but Polly Murray goes on to write, my application is to forestall the popular misconception

that no qualified woman applied or are available.

This letter reflects a lot about Polly Murray, the trailblazing civil rights

activist and lawyer and professor and writer and Episcopal priest's incredible

career especially in that era as a woman and a person of color, someone who has come up on this show a few times, but now it's time to really get to know her and her impact.

Here to do that, as always, Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

Hello there. Hello Jody. Hey there. So yeah we're gonna sort of get to know Polymery

over the course of this but I think that letter I don't know if

shoot your shot was a phrase in 1971 but you know incredible right to just write this letter and be like, why not me? Yeah, I absolutely love Polly Murray. I feel like she's someone though who came into my consciousness later in life. Like she wasn't one of the preeminent sort of civil rights

leaders that we all think of top of mind which is unfortunate because she's

really doing a lot of the hard legal work that we sort of, you know, take for granted and really live our lives in.

...