Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Judge Ruth Abrams on July 25, 2001 at the courthouse in Boston. Ruth Abrams was born in 1930 and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, at a time when her family was the only Jewish family on the block. Her family attended Temple Emanuel, where she had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony. Abrams attended Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School, one of only 13 women to graduate from her law school class. Her two siblings also became lawyers. Abrams began her legal career in private practice with her father and brother, before moving to the District Attorney's office. After serving as staff counsel for the Supreme Judicial Court and as a Superior Court Judge, Abrams became the first woman on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1978. As an SJC judge, Abrams fought for issues including family leave, medical care, gender equity, and minority rights. She retired at the end of 2000.
