Scope and Content Note
The papers of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020) span the years 1897-2005 with the bulk from 1970 to 1997. The collection consists of three parts and some topics and time periods are common to all parts. The majority of papers in Parts I and II documents Ginsburg's efforts as an advocate for women's rights prior to her career as a federal judge and an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Part III relates chiefly to Ginsburg's tenure as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Part I
Part I of the Ginsburg Papers span the years 1966-1992, with the bulk concentrated in the period 1972-1980. The majority of Part I consists of papers documenting Ginsburg's endeavors to promote women's rights, particularly through her speeches and writings and as general counsel to the ACLU and director of its Women's Rights Project. Ginsburg founded the Women's Rights Project in 1972 to provide "focus and direction" in litigation that would redress discrimination against women and ultimately bring about sexual equality. The papers in Part I consist of three series: American Civil Liberties Union File, Speeches and Writings File, and Miscellany.
The American Civil Liberties Union File, 1967-1980, includes correspondence and memoranda, primarily between Ginsburg and clients, lawyers, clerks, and ACLU colleagues, as well as an array of legal papers such as opinions, orders, briefs, and motions. The series documents many of the constitutional law cases that Ginsburg argued and won against sex-based discrimination, including briefs she coauthored in the first successful gender-based law suit, Reed v. Reed. In that case the Supreme Court declared an Idaho statute preferring males over females in administering a deceased person's estate unconstitutional because it discriminated on the basis of sex. This was the first ruling ever by the Court banning sex discrimination under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution. The papers include other cases concerning equal rights for both women and men, such as the same fringe benefits for married servicewomen as for married servicemen (Frontiero v. Richardson), the right of widowers to claim social security survivor benefits (Califano v. Goldfarb), and the end of an automatic exemption of women in Louisiana from jury duty unless they had volunteered (Healy v. Edwards).
The Speeches and Writings File, 1970-1991, consists chiefly of Ginsburg's speeches and articles. Most of the speeches document Ginsburg's efforts as a proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and include some of her statements before various legislatures. Many of the speech texts are typed copies, although a few have emendations by Ginsburg. The articles consist chiefly of printed copies. Worthy of mention is a draft of an article and extensive notes located in the October 1978 Articles file chronicling a trip Ginsburg took with the American Bar Association to China.
The Miscellany series, 1966-1992, relates to Ginsburg's teaching career, with the bulk of the academic files pertaining to her activities at Columbia University. Ginsburg became the first tenured woman law professor to teach at Columbia, and the series contains congratulatory letters regarding her appointment in 1972. The majority of the files reflects her efforts to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed in the United States Congress and its subsequent ratification by state legislatures. In 1982, however, the amendment died from lack of support by several states. Also represented in the files is Ginsburg's appointment in 1980 to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and her possible nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In addition, the Miscellany series includes legal opinions, clippings, and printed matter concerning women's issues.
Part II
Part II of the collection spans 1925-1999, with the majority of the items concentrated in the period 1970-1997. The papers supplement the files in Part I and Part III, particularly those concerning Ginsburg's work with the American Civil Liberties Union, her speeches and writings, and her academic career as a professor at Columbia University. The papers in Part II are organized into the following five series: Personal File, American Civil Liberties Union File, United States Court of Appeals File, Speeches and Writings File, and Miscellany.
A chronological file and family papers constitute the bulk of the Personal File, 1946-1999. The chronological file includes personal correspondence, notes, photographs, programs, and newspaper clippings documenting Ginsburg's activities and interests from 1966 to 1999. Most of the correspondence is between Ginsburg and her friends, law clerks, and colleagues from the United States Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. The family papers consist primarily of correspondence and other papers relating to the justice, her husband, Martin D. Ginsburg, and their children, Jane and James, including the latter's academic records and letters from their summers in France.
The American Civil Liberties Union File, 1956-1979, contains material on several cases not represented in Part I as well as additional papers for case files received previously. For example, with respect to the latter category, a substantial amount of new material was received for Seldin v. State Board of Education. This series may include duplicate items that appear in Part I.
The United States Court of Appeals series, 1979-1992, relates primarily to administrative matters concerning Ginsburg's service as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Items include court calendars, clerk instructions, financial disclosure reports, and material pertaining to Ginsburg's investiture ceremony. Files in Part II also complement papers in Part I concerning Ginsburg's appeals court nomination.
The Speeches and Writings File, 1964-1996, comprises about one third of Part II. Most of Ginsburg's speeches and articles relate to women's rights and gender discrimination. The "Books" file includes reviews and promotional material for the text, Civil Procedure in Sweden, which Ginsburg cowrote with Anders Bruzelius, and also contains a few reviews of her other books.
The Miscellany series, 1925-1999, pertains principally to Ginsburg's tenure as a professor at Columbia University. Most of the Columbia material consists of lecture notes for various courses Ginsburg taught. Also featured are files pertaining to her work for the Equal Rights Amendment, articles written by others about sex equality, and papers documenting her travels.
Part III
Part III of the Ginsburg Papers spans the years 1897-2005, with the majority of the items concentrated in the period 1980-1993. The papers of Part III consist chiefly of case files documenting Ginsburg's thirteen years as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Other papers, particularly her speeches and writings and files documenting her interest in women's rights, supplement files in Parts I and II. The papers in Part III consist of five series: Personal File, United States Court of Appeals File, Speeches and Writings File, Miscellany, and Sealed.
The Personal File, 1994-2004, includes correspondence, memoranda, email, and printed matter relating to Ginsburg's activities and interests. Most of the correspondence is from her law clerks, reporters, lawyers, law professors, and her colleagues from the Supreme Court. Other files relate to the death of her mother-in-law, Evelyn Ginsburg, and the disposition of her personal papers.
The United States Court of Appeals File, 1945-1993, consists of two subseries: Case File and Office File. The Case File is arranged chronologically by court term beginning in September of each year and therein numerically by case number. Cases are filed by date of last court action. The majority of the cases pertain to administrative law in which the United States or one of its agencies was one of the litigants. The files reflect the wide range of cases heard by the District of Columbia Circuit Court such as civil rights, separation of powers, freedom of speech, environmental law, worker safety and labor rights, and criminal cases. Most of the case files include a conference memoranda written by Ginsburg providing insight into the decision making of the judges. In these memoranda Ginsburg concisely records the views of the judges about the cases and indicates the actions that will be taken by the court. The Case File also includes two cases, filed at the end of the court of appeals files, in which Ginsburg served as a panel member for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The Office File, 1945-1993, contains material relating to Ginsburg's appointment to the court of appeals, reports relating to statistics and unpublished opinions of that court, and miscellaneous opinions.
The Speeches and Writings File, 1985-2005, consists primarily of Ginsburg's speeches about women's rights, her work as a justice of the Supreme Court, and the history of the Supreme Court.
Most of the Miscellany series, 1897-2004, is comprised of lectures and background material relating to the international seminars, conferences, and legal programs in which Ginsburg was invited to participate. Also reflected in this file are topics of interest to Ginsburg such as civil rights, Jewish issues, the judiciary, and women's issues.
Restricted
The Restricted series contains files removed from the Part II: Personal File series, files from the Part III: Personal File series, and cases removed from the Case File subseries of Part III of the United States Court of Appeals File series.