Rose Davidson - National Geographic Readers: Ruth Bader Ginsburg (L3)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is best known
for being a justice, or judge, on the
United States Supreme Court. She
was the second woman in history
to have this job.

The Supreme Court has an important
role. The nine justices on the Court
have the final say on how laws should
be followed. Their decisions can help
shape new laws.

the Supreme Court building

SUPREME COURT: The highest
court of law in the United States

Before becoming a justice, Ginsburg was
a professor and a lawyer. She helped people
understand the law. She saw that people
were not always treated equally. Sometimes
women were not allowed to do or have
the same things as men.

Ginsburg felt all people should have
equality. In her work, she fought for laws
that would give women equal treatment.
By standing up and speaking out, she won
important cases for womens rights.

In 1993, Ginsburg became the 107th justice to
serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ginsburg in 1972

PROFESSOR: A teacher at a
college or university

EQUALITY: The same treatment
and opportunities as others

Ginsburg was born
Joan Ruth Bader.
She was born on
March 15, 1933, in
Brooklyn, New York,
U.S.A. When she was
in kindergarten, other girls in her class
were named Joan, too. So she started going
by Ruth instead.

Ruths family was Jewish. While traveling
on a family vacation in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,
Ruth saw prejudice against Jewish people.
A sign said that no Jews were allowed. But
she saw prejudice in her own neighborhood,
too. Throughout her life, she remembered
how this prejudice made her feel.

the Brooklyn Bridge and
New York City around 1930

Ruth grew up during World War II, which took place from
1939 to 1945. In the United States, Jewish people often
experienced prejudice. But in many parts of Europe,
Jewish people faced great danger. At that time, Germany
was under the control of Adolf Hitler and his political
group, the Nazis (NOT- sees). During the war, they took
their hatred of Jewish people to an extreme. In a terrible
event called the Holocaust (HOL- uh- kost), the Nazis killed
six million Jewish people throughout Europe.

In the years leading up to World War II,
prejudice against Jewish people was growing
in Europe. This banner was hung in Berlin,
Germany, in the late 1930s. It says, Germans,
do not buy from Jews.

PREJUDICE: A judgment or
feeling of dislike about a person
or group that is not based in fact

Ruth spent many hours reading at one
of the public libraries in Brooklyn.

Ruths parents didnt go to college,
but they taught her that education was
important. Her mother often took her
to the library. There, Ruth discovered
a love for reading and learning.

When Ruth was in high school,
her mother got sick with cancer. She
died two days before Ruth graduated.
Remembering what her mother had
taught her, Ruth wanted to keep learning.

My mother told me to be
a lady. And for her, that
meant be your own person,
be independent.

Growing up,
Ruth loved
reading the Nancy
Drew detective series.

Ruth in 1953, when she
was a student at Cornell

After high school,
Ruth went to
Cornell University
in Ithaca (ITH- uh
kuh), New York. She
got a scholarship to
study government. In her classes, she learned
how countries, states, and cities are run.

During her first year of college, Ruth
met a student named Marty Ginsburg.
He and Ruth were very different. Marty
was outgoing and funny. Ruth was quiet
and serious. But they liked each other.
Soon they started dating.

Cornell University

SCHOLARSHIP: Money given to a
student by a school or group to help
pay for the students education

In 1954, Ruth
graduated from
Cornell. Nine days
later, she married
Marty and became
Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Marty was a year
older and had already started studying
at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts,
U.S.A. But then he was drafted into the
Army and was sent to Oklahoma, U.S.A.
Ginsburg and Marty spent two years there
and had a daughter named Jane.

After the Army, Marty went back to his
studies at Harvard. Ginsburg was ready
for a new challenge, too. She liked to
write and solve problems. Her professors
had encouraged her to become a lawyer.
To do that, she needed to go to law school.
She went to study at Harvard, too.

Marty and Ruth, celebrating
their upcoming wedding

Harvard Law School

At Harvard, there were more than 500
people in Ginsburgs law school class. But
there were only nine women! And the
women were treated unfairly.

Reading is the key that opens
doors to many good things
in life. Reading shaped my