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Harvard Law School Studies (Jiyu)

Ginsburg enrolled at Harvard Law School in 1956. She was one of nine women in a class with 552 men. She would study between classes until she returned home, and sleep less for her studies.

Citations:

Today, Devon Link Usa. “Fact Check: Ginsburg Cared for Her Young Child, Sick Husband While Excelling in Law School.” USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/09/29/fact-check-rbg-cared-sick-husband-and-daughter-during-law-school/3564015001.

Image Source

: https://hls.harvard.edu/about/

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Flora Schnell (One of RBG's classmates in Harvard)

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Harvard Law School Classmate & Teachers (Rina)

Although RBG mentioned how she rarely had time for socializing, due to her daughter Jane who was only 14 months old at the time, she created new friends where the relationship continued even after college.

RBG's classmates:

Carol Brosnahan:

She had a job in Wall Street, that was researching investments for wealthy clients. However, she said, "I wasn't allowed to meet the clients because women weren't supposed to be managing their money."

Carol recalls a time where she was sitting on the steps and doing crossword puzzles and also cooked for the men in law school.

She also experienced an uncomfortable experience as a woman, where during dinner, Dean Eriwin Oswalkd asked her, "Why are you occupying a seat that could be held by a man?" (According to RBG, this professor didn't have a sense of humor and he had no intentions of making the student uncomfortable.)

Flora Schnall:

She recalls an event in school that Professor Barton Leach created, called Ladies Day. Ladies day was when all the women had to answer the questions and even sing on the spot.

There were only two women in the class at the time, and Flora had to answer all of the questions. However, this made her feel singled out and she even stated, "Answering a question in class was a chance to be humiliated."

Citations: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/the-women-of-harvard-law-rbg-1959.html#ladies

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Professor Benjamin Kaplan (One of RBG's favorite professors)

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Harvard Law School Classmates & Teachers (Rina)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg enrolled in Harvard Law School in 1956. She was the first student who was already married and had a child.

Teachers/Professors:

She was very fond of one professor who taught in her first year, Ben Kaplan. She stated, "He never never did anything to wound or offend." Ben Kaplan was a master of the Socratic Technique (a dialogue between teachers and students often with many questions from the teachers to explore the beliefs of the students.) Whenever a student in class would say an answer, Professor Ben Kaplan would always rephrase it to, "You mean..."

Meanwhile, William McCurdy was a typical Harvard professor, who liked making students uncomfortable. There once was an episode, where RBG decided to bring her friend Jill to her class. Jill did not go to Law school, nor did she go to college. Then her professor, (William McCurdy) called on her and RBG stands up for her friend saying, "She's my house guest." However, the professor replied saying, "Any fool can answer it." RBG stood up and said it was rude to her guest, and she insisted that she would answer the question instead. Later that day, she heard her professor say something about how she is a killjoy.

Citation: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/ruth-bader-ginsburg-interview-transcript.html

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Martin Ginsburg and Ruth Bader Ginsburg listening to Justice Stephen G. Breyer speak at Columbia Law School in 2003

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Harvard Law School Family (Dami)

In 1957, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s husband, Marty, got a cancer diagnosis, and could not attend classes at Law School. Therefore, RBG arranged for the students who are good at note-taking to take notes for him, and she typed them with her friend’s help. Also, she dictated her husband’s papers and typed them. She would start working when her husband fell asleep. Additionally, since his husband was incapacitated during the day because of radiation treatment, she explained how she would dictate his third-year paper at night. When he got back to classes in the last 2 weeks, he received the highest grades that semester.

Citation : Link, Devon. “Fact Check: Ginsburg Cared for Her Young Child, Sick Husband While Excelling in Law School.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 5 Oct. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/09/29/fact-check-rbg-cared-sick-husband-and-daughter-during-law-school/3564015001/.

Image Source : https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/09/23/rbg-husband-marty-ginsburg-ruth-bader-death/

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Armie Hammer plays Ginsburg’s supportive husband Marty in the film. (Jonathan Wenk/Focus Features/via JTA)

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Harvard Law School Studies (Jiyu)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's husband was diagnosed with testicular cancer after the year she enrolled in Harvard Law School. For him, she selected good note-takers in each of his classes. She gave them carbon paper and made them return the copies after each class. Every night at 2 a.m., after her husband's day ended, she would start typing those notes and studying. The book Notorious RBG explains that “That was how she learned she could get by on just one or two hours of sleep, as long as she could sleep in a little on weekends.” Eventually, he was able to achieve high grades that semester.

Citation:

Today, Devon Link Usa. “Fact Check: Ginsburg Cared for Her Young Child, Sick Husband While Excelling in Law School.” USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/09/29/fact-check-rbg-cared-sick-husband-and-daughter-during-law-school/3564015001.

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Harvard Law School Studies (Jiyu)

Even though she faced gender discrimination at Harvard Law School for taking over the place of men, she was an outstanding student who served as the first female member of the Harvard Law Review.

Citation:

“‘We Have Lost a Giant’: Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) - Harvard Law School.” Harvard Law School, 18 Aug. 2023, hls.harvard.edu/today/in-memoriam-ruth-bader-ginsburg.

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Harvard --> Columbia Law School Family (Dami)

After her husband took a job in New York City, Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School after completing her first two years of law school at Harvard. At Columbia Law School, she earned her L.L.B. in 1959 as a Kent Scholar, after serving as an editor of the Columbia Law Review.

Citation : “The Academic Side of RBG.” Columbia Law School, www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/academic-side-rbg. Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.

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Columbia Law School Professor: Professor Gunther (Soyeon)

Professor Gunther was a professor at Columbia Law School and he taught Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG stated she admired Professor Gunther; Professor Gunther provided considerable assistance to RBG. She had impediments to acquiring a position as a law clerk after she graduated from Columbia Law School because she was a female and had a 4-year-old child. However, Professor Gunther helped persistently her to obtain a job; for example, he inquired about every judge in the Southern District to employ her and assured her to find the position as the clerk even if requesting to replace a male lawyer to RBG. In addition, Professor Gunther espoused her even after she got a stable job; for instance, he advised her on the extension of constitutional rights to classes not explicitly mentioned in the law.

Citation: Goldman, Ari L. “Gerald Gunther, Legal Scholar, Dies at 75.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Aug. 2002, www.nytimes.com/2002/08/01/us/gerald-gunther-legal-scholar-dies-at-75.html.

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Harvard --> Columbia Law School (Dami)

After RBG's husband recovered from the cancer and graduated from law school, he got a job in a New York law firm. Therefore, RBG also moved to New York and moved to Columbia Law School. (1958) Ginsburg, by making law review, became the first woman to attain the honored position at two prominent schools. Following a year at Columbia, she graduated as the top student in her class. (1959)

Citation : “Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” Oyez - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, web.archive.org/web/20070319002445/www.oyez.org/justices/ruth_bader_ginsburg/. Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.

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Citation: “Hans Smit.” Columbia Law School, www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/hans-smit. Accessed 17 Jan. 2024. 

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Columbia Law School Professor: Professor Hans Smit (Soyeon)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg uttered that Professor Hans Smit was an inspiring person for her life in the law. Professor Hans Smit suggested studying and working as a co-author of Civil Procedure in Sweden and assistant to him and his aide in developing Columbia’s Project on International Procedure. Professor Hans Smit crucially influenced RBG about her life in the law. For instance, he helped to overcome her shy personality and speak in public; furthermore, he motivated her to take his civil procedure class.

Citation: “Tribute to Hans Smit by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” Columbia Law School, www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/tribute-hans-smit-us-supreme-court-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg. Accessed 12 Jan. 2024.

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Above: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 encourages students in her Columbia Law seminar on sex discrimination law to assist her in preparing to argue on behalf of the AC

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Columbia Law School Faculty/Professor (Mariko)

In 1972 Ruth Bader Ginsburg continued to fight on sex-based discrimination as a professor and became the first tenured female Columbia Law School professor.

Citation: Bourque, Katie. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Fight for Equal Rights Began Long before She Was a Supreme Court Justice.” Good Housekeeping, 23 Sept. 2020, www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g34111816/ruth-bader-ginsburg-accomplishments/. ‌Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.

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1970s: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 in her Columbia Law School office at Jerome L. Greene Hall.

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Columbia Law School Faculty/Professor (Mariko)

As she co-wrote the first law school casebook on sex discrimination in 1974, Ginsburg practiced what she preached. At the university, she fought for her female colleagues to earn the same retirement benefits as her male counterparts.

Citation: Bourque, Katie. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Fight for Equal Rights Began Long before She Was a Supreme Court Justice.” Good Housekeeping, 23 Sept. 2020, www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g34111816/ruth-bader-ginsburg-accomplishments/. ‌Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.

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Columbia Law School (Mariko)

Now in 2024, Colombia Law School has made a award named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This award is only handed out to people who have earned the James Kent achievement all three years, meaning that they had a a GPA higher than 3.8 all years.

Citation: “Academic Prizes.” Www.law.columbia.edu, www.law.columbia.edu/community-life/student-life/graduation/academic-prizes. Accessed 16 Jan. 2024. ‌