Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “dissident” collar—the one she wore on days when she gave strong and sharp opinions contrary to the Supreme Court majority — donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Three other standout collars, the court robe she wore most often during her more than 25 years at court, and other items are also donated by her family to coincide with the museum’s decision to bestow Ginsburg’s signature honour, the Great American Medal.
Ginsburg prided itself on the usefulness of a well-argued dissent. “Different opinions speak to a future era,” Ginsburg told NPR’s Nina Totenberg in 2002. “It’s not just to say, ‘My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.’ But the biggest differences of opinion do become the opinion of the court and gradually their opinion becomes the dominant opinion, so that is the hope of the dissenters: that they write not for today but for tomorrow.”
The Justice Children, Jane and James Ginsburg, will receive the medal and discuss their mother’s legacy with the museum’s director, Anthea M. Hartig, during Wednesday’s awards program.
“This generous donation helps us better understand the complex history of the United States and Justice Ginsburg’s connections to pivotal moments in women’s history, especially the struggle for gender equality,” Hartig said in a statement. “It is an honor to curate these objects and histories in the country’s flagship museum as they reinforce our belief in using history to improve public health.”
Other items to be donated include a black leather briefcase bearing the judge’s famous initials, RBG; 12 pleadings for cases that Ginsburg has argued as a lawyer, including four that she has argued before the Supreme Court; the “Justice Ginsburg” nameplate identifying her cart in front of the court library; and a copy of the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act framed with a photo of President Barack Obama signing the legislation.
(Justice Ginsburg disagreed in the 2007 Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company lawsuit. She disagreed with the court’s majority finding that Lilly Ledbetter waited too long to sue wage discrimination, calling Congress The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act changed the statute of limitations for workplace discrimination claims.)
There are currently no plans to display the artifacts. However, they are shown during the program and then archived and made available online.
The Great Americans Medal will be presented virtually on Wednesday at 6:30 PM and the event will be open to the public after registration. The recipient is selected by the museum’s leadership, and the medal honors “lifetime contributions that embody American ideas and ideals.”
Other Supreme Court materials in the museum’s collection include the mantle worn by Sandra Day O’Connor when she was sworn in as the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, the mantle worn by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist during the Senate impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton and a robe worn by the first Chief Justice, John Jay.