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Obituaries

Feminist trailblazer: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life in pictures

Despite her diminutive stature, Ginsburg was larger than life, both on and off the bench. Viewed as a feminist icon, she broke countless barriers, never shying away from making controversial comments along the way.

/ 27 PHOTOS
Ruth Bader at two-years-old in 1935, at her home in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1935.

Ruth Bader, when she was two-years-old, at her home in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1935.

Ginsburg, who was as pioneering as she was brash, died Sept. 18, 2020, the court said. She was 87.

— Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP
Ruth Bader, at age 15, giving a sermon as the camp rabbi at Che-Na-Wah in Minerva, N.Y., in 1948.

Ruth Bader, at age 15, giving a sermon as the camp rabbi at Che-Na-Wah in Minerva, N.Y., in 1948.

— Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP
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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her high school yearbook photo.

 

— AP
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's engagement photograph, while a senior at Cornell University in December 1953.

Ruth Bader's engagement photograph, while a senior at Cornell University in December 1953.

Born on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, Ruth Joan Bader graduated with a degree in government at top of her class from Cornell University in 1954, the same year she married her college sweetheart, Martin Ginsburg, who became a leading tax lawyer.

— Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her husband Martin Ginsburg, Fort Sill, Okla.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her husband Martin Ginsburg, Fort Sill, Okla.

— Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her husband Martin and their daughter Jane in 1958. Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, on Sept. 18, 2020, the Supreme Court announced.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her husband Martin and their daughter Jane in 1958.

— Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP
Image: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ginsburg in 1977.

— Bettmann Archive
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her husband Martin Ginsburg, and their children Jane and James off the coast of St. Thomas in 1979.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her husband Martin Ginsburg, and their children Jane and James off the coast of St. Thomas in 1979.

— Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP
Image: Bill Clinton, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Walt

President Bill Clinton and then-Judge Ginsburg walk along the colonnades of the White House on June 14, 1993, as they head to the Rose Garden for a news conference where he nominated her to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.

— Doug Mills / AP
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Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, escorts Ginsburg on Capitol Hill, on June 15, 1993.

— Marcy Nighswander / AP
Image: US Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburgh holds up a drawing of herself with the words \"My Grand..

Supreme Court nominee Ginsburg holds up a drawing of herself with the words "My Grandmother Is Very Special" by Paul Spera, her grandson, as she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 20, 1993, on the first day of her confirmation hearings.

— Gary Hershorn / Reuters
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Ginsburg is greeted by her husband, Martin, as she introduces her family during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 20, 1993. Ginsburg's son, James, and his wife, Lisa Brauston, are at left.

— John Duricka / AP
Image: President Clinton laughs at a remark made by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is on her way to the US Suprem..

Clinton laughs at a remark made by Ginsburg during the news conference following her Senate confirmation on Aug. 3, 1993.

— Gary Cameron / Reuters
SWEARING-IN OF RUTH BADER GINSBURG

Ginsburg is sworn in as a Supreme Court justice in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 10, 1993.

— Jeffrey Markowitz / Sygma via Getty Images
Image: BRENNER LICHTENSTEIN BACALL PERLMAN MILLER GINSBURG

Prominent Jewish Americans stand in a maze on Ellis Island in New York on Sept. 18, 1996, as part of a project by Frederic Brenner.

Front row from left are: artist Roy Lichtenstein; actress Lauren Bacall; violinist Itzhak Perlman; playwright Arthur Miller; and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

— Adam Nadel / AP
U.S. Supreme Court: Behind the Scenes

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Ginsburg sit in National Statuary Hall on March 28, 2001, at the U.S. Capitol. The two justices were preparing to address a meeting of the Congressional Women's Caucus.

— David Hume Kennerly / Getty Images
Image: Justice Ginsburg arrives for Obama's primetime address to a joint session of Congress in Washington

Ginsburg is greeted as she arrives prior to President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 24, 2009.

— Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Pool via Reuters
Obama Delivers State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress

Obama hugs Ginsburg before the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on Jan. 25, 2011.

— Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file
Image: Associate Justice Elena Kagan Investiture Ceremony

The four women who have served on the Supreme Court of the United States — Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan — stand in the Justices' Conference Room prior to Kagan's investiture on Oct. 1, 2010.

— Steve Petteway / Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Image: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ginsburg in her chambers at the Supreme Court on July 24, 2013, before an interview with the Associated Press.

Ginsburg said during the interview that it was easy to foresee that Southern states would push ahead with tougher voter identification laws and other measures once the Supreme Court freed them from strict federal oversight of their elections.

— Charles Dharapak / AP
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's opening-night-only cameo as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in the Washington National Opera's production of \"Daughter of the Regiment\" at the Kennedy Center on Nov. 14, 2016.

Ginsburg's opening-night cameo as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in the Washington National Opera's production of "Daughter of the Regiment" at the Kennedy Center on Nov. 14, 2016.

— Scott Suchman / WNO
Image: Roberts leads the U.S. Supreme Court in taking a new family photo including Gorsuch, their most recent addition, at the Supreme Court building in Washington

Chief Justice John Roberts leads Ginsburg, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Neil Gorsuch in taking a new family photo including Gorsuch, their most recent addition, at the Supreme Court building in Washington on June 1, 2017.

— Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
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Ginsburg in a scene from "RBG," a movie that explores her life and career.

— Magnolia Pictures via AP
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg receives a SUNY Honorary Degree from the University at Buffalo on Aug. 26, 2019, in Buffalo N.Y.

Ginsburg receives an honorary degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo on Aug. 26, 2019, in Buffalo, N.Y.

— Douglas Levere / University at Buffalo
Image: Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Ginsburg attends Georgetown Law's second annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lecture on Oct. 30, 2019, in Washington.

— Jacquelyn Martin / AP file
Image: A man kneels as he brings a megaphone to a vigil on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court following the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in Washington

A man kneels as he brings a megaphone to a vigil on the steps of the Supreme Court following Ginsburg's death on Sept. 18, 2020.

The Week in Pictures: Orange haze in Yosemite and deluge in Alabama

— Al Drago / Reuters
Image: Vigil following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Washington

Floral tributes surround an image of Ginsburg outside the Supreme Court on Sunday.

— Yuri Gripas / Reuters
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