In our Icon Series, we give thanks to those whose lives have laid the foundation for our journey toward justice and equity. In this season of being focused on showing appreciation, the New Hampshire Center for Justice & Equity celebrates the extraordinary life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Portrait of RBG. Image Credits: The New Yorker.
About Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, often referred to as RBG, transformed the American legal landscape through her work as a lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, and champion for gender equality. From co-founding the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project to serving 27 years on the U.S. Supreme Court, she dedicated her life to ensuring equal protection under the law. Known for her sharp intellect, strategic advocacy, and powerful dissents, Ginsburg embodied justice in the legal system.
Early Life and Education to Break Barriers
Born Joan Ruth Bader on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, Ginsburg grew up in a low-income, working-class Jewish family. Her father was an immigrant from Russia, and her mother was a second-generation New Yorker who instilled in her the values of education, independence, and perseverance. She excelled in her studies through high school despite witnessing her mother’s battle with cancer, who tragically passed away the day before Ginsburg’s graduation.
In 1954, Ginsburg earned her bachelor’s degree in Government from Cornell University, graduating at the top of her class. The same year, she married fellow law student Martin Ginsburg, and she welcomed their first child shortly after her husband was drafted into military service in 1955.
After her husband’s return, Ginsburg enrolled in law at Harvard, balancing motherhood and continuing her education. She was one of nine women in a class of more than 500 students, and often faced gender discrimination from colleagues and institutional figures. Despite this, she served as the first female member of the Harvard Law Review. In 1958, she transferred to Columbia University to join her husband, who had previously accepted a job at a New York law firm. She also graduated from Columbia at the top of her class.
“Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Legal Career and Advocating for Gender Equality
Despite her academic achievements, Ginsburg continued facing gender discrimination while seeking employment, which deepened her resolve to fight inequality through the law. She landed a job as a clerk for U.S. District Judge Edmund L. Palmieri between 1959 and 1961, and then worked as a research associate for the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. Between 1963 and 1972, Ginsburg taught at Rutgers University Law School and later at Columbia University, where she became the first female tenured professor.
In 1971, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), going on to win five of six landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that reframed gender equality as a constitutional principle under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Her approach demonstrated how discriminatory laws harmed men as well as women, laying the groundwork for modern gender equity law.
Ginsburg also served as the general counsel for the ACLU and was part of the organization’s National Board of Directors through the 1970s. In 1977, she became a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California. Throughout her career, Ginsburg would also serve on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Bar Foundation, the Board of Editors of the American Bar Association Journal, and on the Council of the American Law Institute. During these years, she authored textbooks and spoke as a visiting lecturer at institutions across the United States and Europe.
A Voice for Justice on the Nation’s Highest Court
In 1980, Ginsburg was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Jimmy Carter. For thirteen years, she held this position until President Bill Clinton appointed her to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, making her the second woman and the first Jewish woman to ever serve on the nation’s highest court. Her confirmation was nearly unanimous, reflecting her intellect, balance, and integrity.
As a judge, Ginsburg was a voice for gender equality, workers’ rights, and the separation of church and state. She built consensus when possible but never hesitated to dissent when justice demanded it. In 1996, she wrote the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in United States v. Virginia, which struck down the male-only admissions policy at the Virginia Military Institute, expanding the constitutional protections against gender discrimination. In 2000, Ginsburg dissented in Bush v. Gore, ultimately ending the Florida recount case and deciding the 2000 presidential election. Her dissent in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., in 2007, challenged pay discrimination and inspired the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. This was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama. Ginsburg also championed reproductive rights; LGBTQ+ rights, including legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states; immigrant justice; Affordable Care Act protections; and voting access.
In her later years, she transcended the traditional role of a Supreme Court Justice, becoming a symbol for younger generations, who affectionately nicknamed her “Notorious RBG.” Ginsburg’s image appeared on T-shirts, murals, and internet memes as a celebration of perseverance in the face of injustice. Even while battling cancer multiple times, she continued to serve on the Supreme Court, demonstrating extraordinary dedication to her role and to the rule of law.
Honoring a Legacy of Progress and Commitment
Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on September 18, 2020, at the age of 87. Millions mourned her passing at vigils held outside courthouses across the country, and she was the first woman and second Supreme Court Justice in history to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
Throughout her lifetime, Ginsburg received numerous honors, including the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award, the Radcliffe Medal, the Genesis Prize, and the Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Center. She was posthumously awarded the National Women’s Hall of Fame Medal in 2021.
Ginsburg’s legacy is as a reminder that real and lasting change is achieved through persistence and principle. She continues to inspire every individual and movement that seeks fairness, equal opportunity, and representation. In honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg for NHCJE’s 2025 Icon Series, we celebrate a changemaker who transformed the law into a living instrument of equity.
Learn more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg
https://www.biography.com/legal-figures/ruth-bader-ginsburg - Biography.com
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruth-bader-ginsburg - Womenshistory.org
https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographyginsburg.aspx - Supremecourt.gov
https://www.oyez.org/justices/ruth_bader_ginsburg - Oyez.org
https://achievement.org/achiever/ruth-bader-ginsburg/ - Achivement.org
Call to Action
Following in the footsteps of the civil rights icons who came before us, New Hampshire is facing unprecedented challenges, and NHCJE is preparing to fight the ‘good fight’.
Will you help us continue their legacy by investing in our work this Giving Tuesday?