Volume 4 | Issue 1
History, the United States, and Renewal
Doris Kearns Goodwin at the O’Connor Institute’s Annual History Dinner
Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was the featured speaker at the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute’s latest Annual History Dinner in Phoenix, where she addressed the importance of historical perspective in a time of national uncertainty.
Goodwin recalled her earlier visits with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and praised the Institute’s work in teaching history and civics. “If anything can help us through this troubled time,” she said, “it’s the memory of the times we’ve been through before, and how we managed to get through them.”
Referring to the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World War II, Goodwin noted that Americans facing those crises did not know how their stories would end. Among history’s lessons, she concluded, is that renewal is possible: the nation has endured challenges before and has emerged even stronger.
Civics on the Gridiron
The O’Connor Institute at the Arizona Cardinals Civics Summit
On January 20th, the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute participated in the inaugural Arizona Cardinals Civics Summit at State Farm Stadium. The event, which will occur annually, brought together thousands of middle and high school students from across Arizona for a day of civic learning and engagement. The Institute set up a vibrant informational booth, led two interactive breakout sessions on the First Amendment, and gave the event’s closing address.
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill spoke to attendees about how Justice O’Connor inspired him to make civic engagement and education a priority for his organization, and students took part in interactive sessions focused on civic knowledge, civil discourse, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The program emphasized that civics is not only a subject to study but a set of skills to practice, including listening carefully, engaging disagreement respectfully, and understanding how democratic institutions function.The Institute was honored to participate in this meaningful and uplifting day.
Learn more about our youth programs here.
New Civics for Life Book Club
Jill Lepore’s "We the People" Selected Next
Book Club Discussion: March 24 at 10 AM PT | 1 PM ET
The new Civics for Life Book Club, available on the nifty Civics for Life app, invites participants to explore civic ideas through shared reading and discussion.
After enjoying and enthusiastically conversing about David McCullough’s History Matters, Book Club members (anyone can sign up!) have now selected as our next read Jill Lepore’s We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, which looks at the Constitution’s development and the many efforts to amend it.
So join us! Be part of the Book Club by tapping your Civics for Life app today.
Justice O’Connor Goes to Washington
First Clerk Ruth McGregor on Justice O’Connor’s early days at the Supreme Court
In an oral history recorded by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute, the first Supreme Court Clerk chosen by Justice O'Connor was Ruth McGregor, who would rise to become the Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice. In the interview, she takes us to the earliest days of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s historic appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981. When Sandra Day O’Connor arrived in Washington after her Senate confirmation, McGregor, O’Connor’s first law clerk, found chambers that were almost entirely unprepared: no desks, no chairs, and no file cabinets, only stacks of petitions for certiorari lining the walls. Together, they sat on the floor and began preparing Justice O'Connor for the first Monday in October, the beginning of her term on the bench.
The account offers a view of Justice O’Connor’s early approach to the role: focused on preparation, order, and forward movement rather than ceremony. McGregor’s recollection highlights how even the most historic transitions are often accompanied by ordinary logistical challenges and how institutional work depends as much on behind-the-scenes competence as on public milestones.
The Sandra Day O’Connor Institute thanks Justice Ruth McGregor for this extraordinary oral history.