U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is interviewed by Marina Angel, professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, for the Women in Legal Education Oral History Project.
When Herma Hill Kay made the faculty interview rounds at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1960, the school was looking to replace its sole female faculty member and the first woman to be tenured at a major law school, Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong. Berkeley wanted another woman.
Kay aimed to look her best on that warm spring day, pulling on white gloves and donning a suit and beige cloche-style hat that swept low over her face. She interviewed with professor after professor, all male. Meanwhile, the phone in Armstrong’s office kept ringing throughout the day. Armstrong eventually revealed the problem.
Herma Hill Kay.
