Who Is This Bright-Eyed Young Feminist?

 
ruth bader ginsburg
 

 
This woman was born in Brooklyn, New York to working class parents. Her father was a Russian immigrant, and her mother was first generation American with Austrian-born parents. Her father was employed as a fur manufacturer, and her mother worked at home to support the family furrier business. She had an older sister, but she died of meningitis. With only one child surviving, her mother wanted to make sure she got a good education. Her daughter did not disappoint her – she read whenever she got the chance.

She was a well rounded child. Besides excelling in school, she was also very active in her local Jewish center. When school was out for the summer, she attended yearly trips to a Jewish summer camp program near her. She continued to excel in her studies into her high school years, despite the fact that her mother was sick for much of her older teen years. Sadly, her mother never got to see her graduate from high school, dying the day before graduation day.

Despite this devastating loss, she pushed ahead. She studied government at Cornell University, and graduated with high honors. While at Cornell, she met and married her lifemate, Martin. From there, they moved to Oklahoma so that Martin could complete his military training.

The same year that he was drafted for the war, and she gave birth to their only child. It was during this time that this strong and academically-achieved woman learned the hard truths of being a woman in a man’s world. But the spirit and strength of her mother helped her break the proverbial glass ceiling from that point forward. Since then, she has gone on to be very successful despite the barriers that she has faced, and she has made sure that those women who followed would not face similar obstacles.

This lovely young woman is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

ARMY OF ONE

Sources: (1) Russian immigrant father (2) Jewish upbringing (3) Cornell years