She is the second supreme court justice of America, was appointed in 1993, and is one of the best justices that there has ever been. Who is this amazing women? She goes by the name of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg is 83, and has argued 6 cases within the 25 years she has been in this position. She married Martin Ginsburg in 1954, and had her first child, Jane Ginsburg, in 1955. Her second child, James Steven Ginsburg, was born ten years later. Ginsburg was one smart cookie: every year, she was the top of her class, and she deserved it! She is such an amazing person, that a documentary was recently created about her. It is called RBG. The film has a 4.5 out of 5 star rating from 17 different movie reviews. In my opinion, it deserves a 5 out of 5!
Ginsburg lived in a family of four. She was born the youngest daughter to Celia and Nathan Bader. Her older sister, Marilyn Bader, died when Ginsburg was just a baby, and so she did not get to know her. Celia Bader was an extremely kind-hearted person who inspired her youngest daughter. By choice, Celia did not attend college, but instead worked in a garment factory to help pay for her brother’s college tuition. That act of kindness forever impressed her youngest daughter. Her mother was suffering from cancer all throughout Ginsburg’s years in high school, and unfortunately died the day before Ruth graduated. “My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent,” she said.
During her young adult years, she attended Harvard University, Harvard Law School, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Columbia Law School. In her film, she shared that Cornell was her favorite, because that is where she met the love of her life. As for high school, she attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn, NY. In 1954, she received her bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University, finishing first in her class. When she attended Harvard, it was male-dominated. She was one of the nine females in her class of 500 students. The women were constantly scolded by their dean for taking the spaces that could have been taken by males. When her husband received testicular cancer in 1956, Ginsburg had even more work to do. While taking care of her daughter and her husband, she had so much in her hands. To help her husband, she took notes for him in his classes. Once he recovered, he graduated from law school and then moved on to work at a New York law firm. Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School, where she was chosen to be a part of the school’s law review. She graduated in 1959, in which she was, of course, the first of her class. While she was seeking a job, she unfortunately had to face the wrath of gender discrimination. One of her jobs was serving as the director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she argued six significant cases on gender equality before the Supreme Court.
There is so much to be said about this amazing and inspiring woman, that no amount of pages could be written about her. The amount of people that she has changed: countless. The number of people that she has touched: endless. She will forever be one of the best parts of the USA, and I know for sure that our country would not be the same without her. Ruth Bader Ginsburg: that has an inspiring ring to it!
By: Emily McNeil, 2024 – Arts, Entertainment, and Lifestyle Writer
Photo credit: Know Your Meme
A reverberation of GALA student voices 