A conversation with Josh Perelman, Chief Curator & Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the National Museum of American Jewish History
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first-ever museum retrospective of the Supreme Court Justice-turned-pop-culture-icon, makes its east coast debut at the National Museum of American Jewish History from October 4, 2019 through January 12, 2020.
The Record: What was the motivation for the Ruth Bader Ginsburg exhibit and what would you like people to take away from it?
Perelman: First and foremost, the exhibit is an opportunity for the National Museum of American Jewish History to tell the story of one of the most prominent, influential, and inspiring figures in our lives today. To tell the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an American Jew, who is so intimately involved in the interpretation of the Constitution, from the location from where the Constitution was signed, is simply a remarkable opportunity.
Second, the exhibition is both entertaining and deeply personal. While the cases it highlights are quite relevant to our own time, I do not think it is an accident that RBG has become such a prominent popular culture figure. Part of that derives not only from her leadership on the Court, but also from what her life represents: a life of perseverance, of relentless idealism and a strong sense of justice.
I personally, in putting the exhibition together, developed a much deeper understanding of the intimacy of the relationship between RGB and her husband Marty, the significance of their relationship to RBG, and the significance of the relationship to RBG’s career.
Finally, RBG already has a presence in this museum — her presence is sprinkled throughout our core exhibition. Since we opened the museum in 2010, part of the museum is an installation on the first floor called “Only in America,” which features 20 prominent American Jews in its hall of fame. It has films about each one of those people. One of them features RBG talking about one of her heroes, Louis Brandeis. In conjunction with the exhibition, we will be inducting RBG into the Only in America Hall of Fame — a fitting tribute that is happening in conjunction with the exhibition itself.
The Record: Given the Museum’s focus on Judaism and Jewish life in America, how does Justice Ginsburg’s story relate to those overarching themes?
Perelman: RGB once said, “What’s the difference between a bookkeeper in the garment district and a Supreme Court justice? One generation.” Part of the story that this exhibition tells is about the chain of generations within the American Jewish community, the progression of Jews from immigrants, and their integration into American society.
Clearly RBG is someone who has been accomplished at the highest level. Her statement about the differences between a bookkeeper and a Justice reflects the opportunities that immigrants have had upon arriving in the United States: the opportunity to arrive in the States to define their own paths as individuals, as Jews, and as professionals.
Another aspect, which is extremely relevant to the Jewish soul of the museum, is the endemic story of justice that the exhibition represents and that RGB represents herself. She has talked about the influence of Judaism and Jewish values on her own moral compass and her own set of values.
The Record: What can the HLS community take away from the exhibition?
Perelman: One of the marvelous things about Justice Ginsburg is her capacity to have deep relationships with people of all political persuasions. Her fundamental desire to expand freedom in this nation seem to me to be one of, if not the, hallmark of her legal career, and something the Harvard Law community can take away from the exhibit.
The Record: How have you explored the impediments Justice Ginsburg faced as a woman?
Perelman: The exhibition is based on the book “Notorious RBG.” It’s authors, and therefore the exhibition, highlight a number of the barriers that RBG faced along her career, most principally barriers related to being a woman.
She faced these barriers when she came to law school despite the fact that she was an extremely high achiever and one of only two women to make the Harvard Law Review. After entering law school, RBG attended a dinner with the law school dean, Erwin Griswold. One of his first questions to the women seated in the room was how they could justify taking the place of a man in law school. In many ways, this speaks for the attitude at Harvard at that time and the attitude of society at that moment in our history.
Later, her husband, Marty, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. She spent time taking care of him, and once he recovered and she was returning to her legal training, she wanted to finish her degree at Harvard but take her last few classes as Columbia. Dean Griswold did not allow this, and she actually graduated from Columbia University.
The gender discrimination she experienced at Harvard reoccurred throughout her career. After she graduated from law school it was extremely difficult for her to find a job. She eventually found a professional home, initially at the ACLU, and her advocacy on behalf of woman’s rights was an uphill battle at the time. Her own experienced with gender discrimination and the pressures that she faced as a woman seeking to achieve in largely male world would be incredibly influential on the choices that she would make as a lawyer, as a judge, and now as a Justice.
The Record: What lessons do you think we can draw from Justice Ginsburg’s journey?
Perelman: Times have certainly changed, and Harvard is a very different place now than it was in the mid-1950s. But unfortunately, Justice Ginsburg’s principle focus, gender discrimination, remains a pervasive issue in our society. Some fifty years after RBG’s time at Harvard, gender discrimination is taking on new meanings that we need to confront.
The Record: Is there anything else you would like to tell the HLS community?
Perelman: First of all, the Harvard community should come and visit the museum and see the exhibition! Second, for those who are interested in American legal history or are specifically interested in RBG, I think the uniqueness of the material in the exhibition and the ability to explore RBG’s world from the inside out is unique. For lawyers in training at Harvard, understanding the legal history that RBG represents is critical.
More information about the exhibit can be found at www.nmajh.org/exhibitions/rbg/
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the NMAJH debuted the exhibition.