Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg
This Friday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at the age of 87. Although she is no longer with us, she has left a lasting legacy in her inspiring work—and her words. Want to learn more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Check out the books in this list.
September 21, 2020
This Friday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at the age of 87. Although she is no longer with us, she has left a lasting legacy in her inspiring work—and her words.
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
Before becoming a Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg—who is often affectionately referred to as RBG, or even the Notorious RBG—was a graduate of Cornell University and Columbia Law School, a professor at Rutgers Law School and Columbia Law School, a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU, and a Justice on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was only the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
Ginsburg spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights.
Ginsburg’s early career was immortalized in the movie On the Basis of Sex, including the Moritz v. Commissioner case that challenged the many laws enacted over the years that assume that men will work to provide for the family, and women will stay home and take care of the husband and children.
“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.”
Want to learn more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Check out the books in the list below.
For more information, visit the Supreme Court website. For something with a little more depth, NPR has two excellent articles written by Nina Totenberg, her friend of over 50 year. Both are also available as short 9-minute audio segments.
Books about RBG
Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg On Life, Love, Liberty, And Law
Jeffrey Rosen
This remarkable and unique book is an informal portrait of Justice Ginsburg, drawing on a series of her conversations with Rosen, starting in the 1990s and continuing through the Trump era. Rosen, a veteran legal journalist, scholar, and president of the National Constitution Center, shares with readers the justice’s observations on a variety of topics, and her intellect, compassion, sense of humor, and humanity shine through.
Dissenter on The Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Life & Work
Victoria Ortiz
The life and career of the fiercely principled Supreme Court Justice, now a popular icon, with dramatic accounts of her landmark cases that moved the needle on legal protection of human rights. Written for a teen audience.
How to Lead: Wisdom from The World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, And Game Changers
David M. Rubenstein
The essential leadership playbook. Learn the principles and guiding philosophies of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Warren Buffet, Oprah, and many others through illuminating conversations about their remarkable lives and careers.
In Praise of Difficult Women: Life Lessons From 29 Heroines Who Dared to Break the Rules
Karen Karbo
This witty narrative explores what we can learn from the imperfect and extraordinary legacies of 29 iconic women who forged their own unique paths in the world.
My Own Words
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The first book from Ruth Bader Ginsburg since becoming a Supreme Court Justice in 1993—a witty, engaging, serious, and playful collection of writings and speeches from the woman who has had a powerful and enduring influence on law, women’s rights, and popular culture.
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
In a lively illustrated biography of the feminist icon and legal pioneer, readers can get to know the Supreme Court Justice and fierce Jewish grandmother, who has changed the world despite our struggle with the unfinished business of gender equality and civil rights, standing as a testament to what a little chutzpah can do.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life
Jane Sherron de Hart
The first full life—private; public; legal; philosophical—of the 107th Supreme Court Justice, one of the most profound and profoundly transformative legal minds of our time; a book fifteen years in work, written with the cooperation of Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself and based on many interviews with the Justice, her husband, her children, her friends, and associates. In this large, comprehensive, revelatory biography, Jane De Hart explores the central experiences that crucially shaped Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, her meticulous jurisprudence: her desire to make We the People more united and our union more perfect.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. Vs. Inequality
Jonah Winter
The first full life—private, public, legal, philosophical—of the 107th Supreme Court Justice, one of the most profound and profoundly transformative legal minds of our time; a book fifteen years in work, written with the cooperation of Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself and based on many interviews with the justice, her husband, her children, her friends, and her associates.
Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor And Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to The Supreme Court and Changed the World
Linda Hirshman
An account of the intertwined lives of the first two women to be appointed to the Supreme Court examines their respective religious and political beliefs while sharing insights into how they have influenced interpretations of the Constitution to promote equal rights for women.
The RBG Workout
Bryant Johnson
How does Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the Supreme Court’s favorite octogenarians, stay so active and energetic? She owes it in part to the twice-weekly workouts she does with her personal trainer, Bryant Johnson. Now, with the RBG Workout, you can exercise alongside Justice Ginsburg and Bryant. From planks to squats to (full) push-ups, this simple but challenging workout—illustrated with full-color illustrations of the justice in workout gear—will have you getting fit in no time. With tips from the bench, and sidebars with Bryant’s folksy wisdom on getting fit and staying healthy.
Movies
On the Basis of Sex
An inspiring and spirited true story that follows young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the US Court of Appeals and overturn a century of gender discrimination. A biographical drama starring Felicity Jones.
Books for Kids
A Is for Awesome: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World
Eva Chen
Why stick with plain old A, B, C when you can have Amelia (Earhart), Malala, Tina (Turner), Ruth (Bader Ginsburg), all the way to eXtraordinary You—and the Zillion of adventures you will go on? Instagram superstar Eva Chen, author of Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes, is back with an alphabet board book depicting feminist icons in A Is for Awesome: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World, featuring spirited illustrations by Derek Desierto.
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
Debbie Levy
Traces the achievements of the celebrated Supreme Court justice through the lens of her many famous acts of civil disagreement against inequality, unfair treatment, and human rights injustice.
More Girls Who Rocked the World: Heroines from Ada Lovelace To Misty Copeland
Michelle Roehm McCann
From the inspiring author of Girls Who Rocked the World comes another comprehensive collection of true, inspiring profiles of successful young women throughout history who made their mark on the world before turning twenty.
Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
Patricia Brennan Demuth
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is famous for her stylish collars (called jabots) and her commanding dissents. This opera-loving New Yorker has always spoken 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 makes RBG so notorious and irreplaceable.