EARLY LIFE
Joan Ruth Bader born March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York was the second child of Celia and Nathan Bader. She grew up in a low-income Flatbush neighborhood in Brooklyn.
From an early age, Ginsburg shared a special connection with her mother, who taught her the importance of independence and a good education. Said values served as a major inspiration for her later life.
EDUCATION
Ginsburg graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in Government in 1954, and soon later, she married Martin D. Ginsburg. She then went on to attend Harvard Law School, but soon after transferred to Columbia Law School, where she earned her law degree in 1959 after her husband started working in New York City.
Graduating top of her class, Ginsburg was the first woman to be on two law reviews: the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review.
EARLY CAREER
Ginsburg's first job was as a law professor at Rutgers Law School in 1963. She was paid less than her male colleagues on the basis that her husband had a well-paying job. Then, in 1972, Ginsburg co-founded the Women's Right Projects at the American Civil Liberties Union, and later became the general counsel in 1973. Through this, she was able to argue six gender discrimination cases between 1973 and 1976, before the Supreme Court.
LATE CAREER
From 1980 until 1993, Ginsburg served at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Wanting to increase the Supreme Court's diversity, Bill Clinton nominated her as an Associate Justice in 1993. Being the first Jewish person to serve on the Supreme Court, she was known for attacking specific aspects of gender discrimination, equal pay and LGBTQ+ rights.