Ruth Bader was born on March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. Bader had a love of education from very early on in her life and excelled in her primary school education. Bader attended Cornell University on a full scholarship and eventually graduated at the top of her class. At Cornell, Bader met Martin Ginsburg. They married several days after Bader’s graduation, and she officially became Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Martin greatly encouraged her education and hard work.
After a two year stint in Oklahoma while Martin served in the U.S. Army, Ginsburg studied at Harvard Law School. She was the first woman to serve on the editorial staff of the Harvard Law Review. In between her studies and her work on the journal, Ginsburg also cared for Martin, who had been diagnosed with cancer, and her young daughter Jane. At Harvard, Ginsburg was one of only nine women in a class of five-hundred, and faced much gender discrimination and adversity. Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School for her last year and graduated at the top of her class in 1959.
After graduation, Ginsburg had trouble finding a job because of the ever present gender-based discrimination. Eventually she landed a job as a clerk for a U.S. District judge. After several years, Ginsburg took a job on the Columbia Project on International Civil Procedure and lived abroad to study Swedish Civil Procedures and write a book about the topic. She became a professor at the Rutgers School of Law in 1963, and became the first female professor to earn tenure at Rutgers in 1969. In 1972, she became a professor at Columbia and earned tenure.
In the 1970s, Ginsburg officially entered the field of gender equality. She moderated a student panel discussion, wrote law review article, taught seminars, and partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union to write briefs in two federal cases. Ginsburg wrote many law review articles about Supreme Court briefs on the issue of gender discrimination. In the 1970s, she argued in front of the Supreme Court six times, and won five of the cases.
In 1980, Ginsburg was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit in Washington D.C by Jimmy Carter. In June, 1993, Ginsburg was nominated by Bill Clinton to replace a retiring Justice on the Supreme Court, becoming the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Ginsburg was an outspoken and active member of the Supreme Court. She continued to fight for women’s rights.
Ginsburg in 1972
Ginsburg working out
As of 2019, Ginsburg is still an active member of the Supreme court and has yet to miss a day of oral arguments, despite undergoing chemotherapy, surgery and the loss of her husband. Ginsburg is also in remarkable shape for her age (83 years old). She works with a personal trainer in the Supreme Court exercise room and can lift more than several of the other (male and younger) justices. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a badass and a strong and determined woman. She is someone that young girls who are interested in politics and making a difference can look up to.
If you are interested in learning more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, On the Basis of Sex is a movie that was released recently which documents her life and achievements.
Bibliography
"Ruth Bader Ginsburg." Oyez, 25 Mar. 2019, www.oyez.org/justices/ruth_bader_ginsburg.
Houck, Aaron M., and Brian P. Smentkowski. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 11 Mar. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg.