Martin recovered, graduated from law school, and accepted a position at a New York law firm. Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School in New York City to join her husband, where she was elected to the school’s law review. Ginsburg attended to her young daughter and convalescing husband, taking notes for him in classes while she continued her own law studies. Then, another challenge: Martin contracted testicular cancer in 1956, requiring intensive treatment and rehabilitation. But Ginsburg pressed on and excelled academically, eventually becoming a member of the prestigious legal journal, the Harvard Law Review. The women were chided by the law school’s dean for taking the places of qualified males. She also encountered a very male-dominated, hostile environment, with only eight females in her class of 500.

He served for two years and, after his discharge, the couple returned to Harvard where Ginsburg also enrolled.Īt Harvard, Ginsburg learned to balance life as a mother and her new role as a law student. The early years of their marriage were challenging, as their first child, Jane, was born shortly after Martin was drafted into the military in 1954.

Ginsburg, also a law student, that same year.

Her mother struggled with cancer throughout Ginsburg’s high school years, and died the day before Ginsburg’s graduation.īader graduated from Cornell University in 1954, finishing first in her class.

At James Madison High School in Brooklyn, Ginsburg worked diligently and excelled in her studies. Ginsburg’s mother, a major influence in her life, taught her the value of independence and a good education.Ĭecelia herself did not attend college, but instead worked in a garment factory to help pay for her brother’s college education, an act of selflessness that forever impressed Ginsburg. Ruth Joan Bader, the second daughter of Nathan and Cecelia Bader grew up in a low-income, working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Ginsburg's family was Jewish.

Rbg photos