My Own Words

The biographers describe Ginsburg’s encounter with the Swedish notion of vägmärken (meaning “waypaver” or “pathmarker”). She recognized that many individuals had established the course of her own pilgrimage as a legal activist. They write, “Even now, as arguably the hardest working Supreme Court Justice, Justice Ginsburg continues to pay tribute to historical figures and colleagues alike” (63).

Ginsburg describes the life and career of Belva Lockwood, the first woman admitted to the Supreme Court Bar and the first to make an oral argument before the court. Belva came to New York in 1866 as a widow with a small child. Through perseverance and diligent effort, she became a teacher and then a lawyer. After persistent attempts, in 1879 she gained admission to the Supreme Court bar. In 1884 and 1888, she ran for President of the United States.

Speaking to the American Sociological Association annual meeting in August 2006, Ginsburg traced the history of American women as attorneys. She noted that Arabella Mansfield in Iowa in 1869 became the first woman to practice law in the US. That same year, St. Louis Law School allowed women to attend. She remarks that, 100 years later, in 1969, the legal profession was still male dominated.