Creative Changemakers: Ruth Bader Ginsburg
You don't have to be an artist to be a Creative Changemaker. But you do need the mindset of an artist. Visionaries, people who transform our world, all have many of the habits that my art programs promote.
Let's review the 8 Studio Habits of Mind, also known as SHoM.
The Studio Habits of Mind is a framework published in 2003 by Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education. This is a series of 8 “habits” that researchers saw being taught, implicitly and explicitly, in strong visual arts programs. They saw similar habits being used across academic subjects.
The 8 Studio Habits of Mind are:
So what does Ruth Bader Ginsburg have to do with this?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, NY. Her father was a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine, and her mother was a first generation American.
Ruth’s mother, Celia, valued education. Celia took an active role in her daughter’s schools and spent a lot of time with Ruth in the library. Ruth attended Religious School and wanted a Bat Mitzvah but her synagogue did not allow that for girls. Celia had several bouts with cancer and died the day before Ruth’s High School graduation.
Grief-stricken but undeterred, Ruth Bader went on to Cornell University to get her Bachelor’s Degree in Government. It was there she met Martin Ginsburg. In 1953, she graduated with honors as the highest ranking female student in her class. She married Martin a month later.
While Martin was in the US Army Reserve, Ruth got a government job. When she became pregnant she was demoted. Their daughter, Jane, was born in 1955.
In the fall of 1956, Ruth enrolled at Harvard Law School, where she was one of 9 women in a class of over 500. The Dean asked her, “Why are you here at Harvard Law taking the place of a man?” When Martin took a job in New York City, that same Dean denied Ruth's request to complete her Harvard law degree at Columbia. So she transferred to Columbia Law School and earned her law degree there, finishing first in her class.
Despite her intelligence and glowing recommendations, as a woman Ruth struggled to find a law clerkship. It was only after Columbia law professor Gerald Gunther told US District Court Judge Edmund Palmieri that he would never recommend another Columbia student to him that he finally gave Ruth Ginsburg a chance.
After her clerkship, Ruth spent two years in Sweden researching a book on civil procedure. There she saw women making up 25% of the law students, and a judge who worked throughout her pregnancy. She realized that women could live a different lifestyle than what they had in the US.
Back in the US, Ruth co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU. She argued 6 gender discrimination cases in front of the Supreme Court. Ruth planned a careful and strategic course of action. She took aim at specific statutes to slowly build on each successive legal victory, rather than trying to abolish gender discrimination all at once. Her work contributed significantly to advances for women under the law.
In 1980, Ruth was confirmed to the District of Columbia Circuit Court. In 1993, she was elevated to the Supreme Court - the second woman, and the first Jewish woman to serve. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admired by people from all sides of the political spectrum, whether they agreed with her opinions or not. She delivered passionate, well researched dissents and majority rulings from the bench. She was personable, strong, and humble.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg battled through 5 bouts of cancer from 1999 to her death in 2020.
Let's take a look at how RBG embodied the SHoM
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a creative changemaker. She saw problems in our world, desired change, gathered knowledge and resources, and worked to bring about solutions.
What Studio Habits of Mind (SHoM) do you see in Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life story?
Develop Craft - Ruth was not developing her craft using art materials, she was using legal knowledge. She was always learning more, she was a hard worker and an excellent student. Ruth used her tools - her knowledge, voice and opinions - wisely.
Engage & Persist - Time after time, Ruth was devalued just because of her gender - as a Harvard law school student, in her first job, while looking for clerkships. But she persisted in her fight for equal rights in the face of opposition, because this was her life’s work.
Envision - Ruth had a clear vision of how she thought the world should be, and everything she did was a step towards that.
Express - Ruth certainly created work that had meaning, and expressed herself with her pen and her voice.
Observe - Ruth always looked closely at her cases, digging down into the real reasons for laws.
Reflect - Voicing her dissent, Ruth often reflected on her work and the work of others.
Stretch & Explore - As a woman in what was very much a man’s field in her time, RBG stretched her comfort zone daily. She had to take risks and try new things in order to get done what she felt needed to be done.
Understanding Worlds - It took a deep understanding of the legal world for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to make the impact she made.
For the next several weeks I am going to delve into famous changemakers to see how these 8 Studio Habits of Mind inform their life and work. Look for more in the Changemakers Series next week. Not a subscriber? Just connect up below!
