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The Life and Family Tree of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The Justice served 27 years on the Supreme Court

By Bradley GreenlandPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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Joan Ruth Bader was born on March 15th, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York to Nathan Bader and Celia Amster. She had an older sister, Marylin who died from Meningitis when she was just six years old.

Joan Bader would eventually be known as Ruth Bader. The story goes that when Joan Ruth Bader was starting school, her mother discovered that there were several other girls in her class named Joan. To avoid confusion, Celia suggested that the teacher call her daughter Ruth, and the name stuck.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck the Bader household again in 1950. Ruth's mother, Celia, was diagnosed with cancer and would die the day before Ruth graduated from James Madison High School in 1950. Celia was credited with instilling the love of education in Ruth which she carried with her throughout her life.

Ruth would eventually attend Cornell University in New York where she graduated as the highest-ranking female in her class. A month after graduating, Ruth married Martin Ginsburg on June 23rd, 1954 in Hempsted, New York.

Marriage Record of Ruth Bader and Martin Ginsburg

The following year, when Ruth was 21, she gave birth to the couple's daughter Jane.

In 1956, Ruth enrolled in Harvard Law School, where she was one of only nine women in her class with 500 men. During this time, the Dean of the College invited the nine female students to dinner at his family's house and asked all of them, "Why are you at Harvard Law School, taking the place of a man?" Shortly after this incident, Ruth transferred to Columbia Law School in New York. She would become the first woman to serve on two law reviews, the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review, and would tie for first in her class when she graduated from Columbia in 1959.

Ginsburg faced difficulties in finding employment after graduation and was rejected by a Supreme Court Justice because of her gender. Luckily for Ginsburg, she would eventually find a job as a clerk for Judge Edward L Palmieri. This came after her Professor at Columbia Law, Gerald Gunther threatened to never recommend another Columbia student to Judge Palmieri again should he not hire her.

In 1972, Ginsburg Co-Founded the Women's Rights Project at the ACLU and would later become the project's general counsel. During her time in this position, she argued several cases before the United States Supreme Court pertaining to gender discrimination of both men and women. In 1980, Ginsburg was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. She served as a Judge on this court until 1993 when she was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton. This made her, at the time, the second woman to serve on the court and the first Jewish woman.

Ginsburg served on the bench of the Supreme Court until her death on September 18th, 2020. The day of her death also coincided with Rosh Hashanah, the start of the new year on the Jewish calendar. In Judaism, those who die on Rosh Hashanah are referred to as a Tzaddik, which translates to a person of great righteousness.

Ruth’s father, Nathan Bader, was born November 30th, 1896 in Russia to Samuel Bader and Ida Milstein. Ruth’s mother, Celia Amster, was born July 4th, 1902 in New York to Joseph Amster and Rose Dick. Nathan and his family immigrated to the United States from Russia in either 1910 or 1911 and settled in New York. By June of 1918, Nathan had submitted his first papers to become a citizen of the United States. While he was in the process of becoming a citizen, World War One began and Nathan registered for the draft. During this time, Nathan was working for furrier Maynard Miller and Company in New York.

Draft Card of Nathan Miller

After the war, Nathan continued to work as a furrier, a person who prepares or deals in furs, in New York. This is likely how Nathan and Celia met because, when Celia was 17, she began working as a bookkeeper at a furrier in Brooklyn. She was still working there in 1925, the same time Nathan was also working there. On February 10th, 1926, Nathan and Celia married when Nathan was 29 and Celia was 23, just two years after Nathan became a citizen. By 1930, Nathan and Celia were living on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. Nathan had left Maynard Miller by this point and started his own furrier business, which he would run for the rest of his life.

Celia died from cancer on June 25th 1950 when she was just 47 years old. Nathan followed almost exactly eighteen years later in 1968 when he was 71.

Ruth’s maternal grandfather, Joseph Amster was born in Galicia, Austria, now located in Ukraine, to Sara and Meyer Wolf Amster in 1868. Rose Dick was born in 1869 in Poland to Phillip Dick and an unknown mother. Joseph immigrated to the United States on November 8th, 1901 when he was 33 years old on board the ship, the Castle and settled in New York. Rose also immigrated to the United States in 1902 on an unknown date. Joseph and Rose married not to long after arriving in the United States and moved into an apartment in Manhattan. During this time, Joseph began working as a carpenter and Rose as a homemaker. On November 29th, 1911 Joseph declared his intent to become a citizen in New York and would achieve naturalized citizenship status by the next census in 1920.

Rose died seven years later on November 19th, 1927 at age 58. Joseph died seven years after her in August of 1934 at age 67. During their lives together, they would have eleven children.

Justice Ginsburg descended from a long line of hardworking and determined individuals which undoubtedly influenced her throughout her life and career.

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About the Creator

Bradley Greenland

Bradley Greenland is a freelance genealogist looking to tell the stories hidden in your family tree.

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