Triogenius: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Everyone's life is a story, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg's is one of determination and persistence.

She was named Joan Ruth Bader when she was born on March 15, 1933, in New York City. Her father was an immigrant from the Ukraine, and her mother was born in New York. Her mother worked to put her brother through school, but wasn't able to get a degree herself. So, she wanted her daughter to have as much education and as many opportunities as possible.

When Joan was beginning school, there were several other girls named 'Joan' in her class, so her mother suggested she started going by her middle name, and thus she became 'Ruth.' Her mother, who sadly died before Ruth graduated from high school, was hoping that Ruth would become a history teacher. Little did she know where her daughter would go with her education!

Ruth met her husband, Martin Ginsburg, when she was 17 and beginning college. They were married in 1954, when she was 21. Their marriage was somewhat unconventional in that there were few 'traditional roles' in the relationship, and they agreed to pursue their careers together, both in law. She helped her husband achieve his degree, and then after the birth of their first child, Ruth enrolled in law school at Harvard. She was 1 of only 9 women in a class of 500 men. She transferred from Harvard to Columbia to complete her law degree and tied for first in her class.

Ruth Ginsburg and her daughter, Jane. Jane is currently an attorney and a professor at Columbia. Ruth's son, James, owns a classical record company called Cedille.

Early in her career she did research on international procedures in Sweden. She admired the progress Sweden had made concerning womens' rights and equality with men. Her major concern has been gender equality, and she experienced discrimination a number of times in her life. A couple of examples: when she became a professor at Rutgers Law School, she was told she would be paid less than a man because she had a husband who could support her. When she was a professor at Columbia, layoff notices were served to 25 people--all of them women. Ms. Ginsburg took the matter up with the college and found a way to lay off no one.

Ms. Ginsburg and her husband, daughter, son, son-in-law (w. glasses), and grandchildren. Martin Ginsburg died in 2010.

Ruth founded the Womens Rights Project with the ACLU, is the first ever woman Jewish Supreme Court Justice, and she is currently the oldest person serving on the Supreme Court. She began as a Supreme Court Justice on August 9, 1993.

Have you noticed that Justice Ginsburg wears various fancy collars with her robe? They're called a 'Jabot' (pronounced zha-BO) and some of them are worn to indicate different things https://www.bustle.com/articles/81407-all-of-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-jabots-from-her-statement-making-dissent-collar-to-her-sassy-beaded-accessories She has also worn different types of robes instead of the traditional ones.