A young woman is accepted into Harvard Law School in 1956, one of a mere nine women in a class of more than 500. Early on, she crosses paths with Erwin Griswold, the dean of the law school and an eminent member of the legal establishment. Griswold is notorious for challenging Harvard’s female law students with a question: How could they take a spot that could have gone to a man?
In this case, the young woman is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her response? “Oh, I mumbled something about my husband being in the second-year class and that it was important for a wife to understand her husband’s work,” says Ginsburg, with a laugh.
