Description
Product Description
You've probably seen her on T-shirts, mugs, and even tattoos. Now that famous face graces the cover of this Who Was? book.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was famous for her stylish collars (called jabots) and her commanding dissents. This opera-loving New Yorker always spoke her mind; as a young lawyer, RBG advocated for gender equality and women's rights when few others did. She gained attention for the cases she won when arguing in front of the Supreme Court, before taking her place on the bench in 1993. Author Patricia Brennan Demuth answers all the question about what made RBG so irreplaceable.
About the Author
Patricia Brennan Demuth is the author of several Who HQ titles, including
Who Was Bill Gates?,
What Was Pearl Harbor?, and
What Was D-Day?
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
Like every kid, Ruth always looked forward to her birthday. When the special day came along, she and her mother loaded up bags of ice cream. Then they brought the treats to the place where Ruth celebrated all her birthdays. It wasn’t filled with balloons or wrapped presents. It was at a nearby orphanage—a home for children who didn’t have parents.
Sometimes Ruth wished for birthday parties like her friends had. But the smiles on the children always changed her mind.
Life wasn’t always easy for Ruth’s family, either. Her parents were hardworking immigrants. They rented an apartment in Brooklyn, New York. But Ruth’s mother taught her to care for others who had even less. It made Ruth want to “do something” when she grew up—something to change people’s lives.
But how could a girl make a big difference? When Ruth was a child, girls faced lots of closed doors. Back then, there were police
men, mail
men, and fire
men. Doctors, dentists, pilots, lawyers, soldiers—nearly all were male.
Ruth never dreamed that one day she’d beat the odds and become a lawyer. But that’s what she did. And it was just the beginning.
Ruth was tiny, soft-spoken, and always polite. Yet when it came to standing up for people’s rights, she was a warrior. She fought to change laws to give women an equal chance in society.
One by one, she opened doors. Then she walked right through many of those open doors herself—all the way to the Supreme Court!
Today, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is so famous that millions know her just from her initials: RBG.
Chapter 1: An Immigrant Family
The future judge known as RBG was born a frisky baby on March 15, 1933. Her birth name was Joan Ruth Bader. But as a baby, she kicked so much that her big sister, Marilyn, nicknamed her Kiki (say: KICK-ee). Later, at school, she started going by her middle name because there were so many Joans in her class. Ruth was the name that stuck.
Ruth grew up in Brooklyn, a bustling part of New York City. She lived with her parents, Nathan and Celia Bader, on the bottom floor of a two-family house. Their landlady lived right above them. Their block was filled with hardworking immigrant families like theirs.
Ruth’s shy, gentle father had been born in Ukraine (near Russia). Nathan was forbidden from going to school there because he was Jewish. In the United States, he went to night school to learn English and become a citizen.
Ruth’s mother, Celia, was born in America just months after her family arrived from Poland. They were also fleeing because they were Jewish. Young Ruth learned early from her parents to treasure America’s freedoms.
Like the other fathers in the neighborhood, Nathan Bader left for work each morning. Nathan made a living selling fur hats and coats. But in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, most Americans were too broke to afford them. Nathan had to work late just to make ends meet.
Celia stayed home to raise her two daughters. Sadly, when Ruth was two, her six-year-old sister died. After that, Celia pinned all her hopes on little Ruth.
At that time, most