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Ruth I. Abrams Ruth I. Abrams February 6, 2009; October 11, 2009; February 15, 2010; June 11, 2010; October 22, 2010 Recommended Transcript of Interview with Ruth I. Abrams (Feb. 6, 2009; Oct. 11, 2009; Citation Feb. 15, 2010; June 11, 2010; Oct. 22, 2010), https://abawtp.law.stanford.edu/exhibits/show/ruth-i-abrams. Attribution The American Bar Association is the copyright owner or licensee for this collection. Citations, quotations, and use of materials in this collection made under fair use must acknowledge their source as the American Bar Association. Terms of Use This oral history is part of the American Bar Association Women Trailblazers in the Law Project, a project initiated by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and sponsored by the ABA Senior Lawyers Division. This is a collaborative research project between the American Bar Association and the American Bar Foundation. Reprinted with permission from the American Bar Association. All rights reserved. Contact Please contact the Robert Crown Law Library at Information [email protected] with questions about the ABA Women Trailblazers Project. Questions regarding copyright use and permissions should be directed to the American Bar Association Office of General Counsel, 321 N Clark St., Chicago, IL 60654-7598; 312-988-5214. ABA Senior Lawyers Division Women Trailblazers in the Law ORAL HISTORY of RUTH I. ABRAMS Interviewers: Alice Richmond Elaine M. Epstein Dates of Interviews: February 6, 2009 October 11, 2009 February 15, 2010 June 11, 2010 October 22, 2010 ORAL HISTORY OF THE HON. RUTH I. ABRAMS (Ret.) FIRST INTERVIEW February 6, 2009 This is the first interview of the oral history of Ruth Abrams which is being taken on behalf of Women Trailblazers in the Law, a Project of the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division. It is being conducted by Alice Richmond on February 6, 2009. Richmond: I should probably say for the purposes of the tape, that I was Justice Abrams' first law clerk many years ago. I now call her Ruth, I mean no disrespect by that. I am likely to say Ruth on this tape. We have signed the intent to donate. Interview is being held in a room with a beautiful view of the Charles River. Justice Abrams could you tell me a little bit about your family, where you were born, where you are in terms of brothers and sisters, where you went to school? Abrams: I was born in Boston, grew up in Newton, MA. My father was a lawyer and my mother was a homemaker. I have one brother and one sister. All three of us are lawyers. My sister became a lawyer not right after college but when her youngest son went to college. But all three of us are lawyers. In my extended family, I had an uncle who was a lawyer, his son was a lawyer, his daughter married a lawyer, so we have any number of lawyers in the family. I went to the Newton School until Grade 10 and I went to Choate School for Girls for three years. Richmond Why did you do that? Abrams: My parents. My brother went to Andover and I went to Choate School for girls. I am the oldest of the three; my brother is 14 months younger than I am and my sister is 7 V,i years younger than I am. My brother went to Andover so they put - 1 - me in a girls' school. There was a concern of World War II and maybe having to evacuate. There was a small little incident where I was bitten by a dog in Newton named Hitler. That worried my parents tremendously. Richmond: Could I get your birth date? Abrams: December 26, 1930. Richmond: So you went to Choate starting your junior year in school? Abrams: Sophomore year. At that time the Newton schools went K-6th, 7th-9th and high school was 1oth -1 ih. They subsequently changed that. Richmond: The Choate School for girls is where? Abrams: It was in Brookline, it no longer exists. The woman who started it was named Augustus Choate. She was related to the people who started the Choate School for Boys, now a co-ed school in CT. She was a graduate of Vassar. She thought that Vassar was the be all and' end all of the world. When I chose to go to Radcliffe she said to me "do you know the girls there smoke"? And I said "if that is the worst, it is pretty good". Richmond: So it was not a boarding school? Abrams: No, it was a day school. My brother boarded at Andover. Richmond: What else did you do when you were at Choate besides go to school? Were there any activities? Abrams: All my life my mother took us to dancing lessons, piano lessons. Richmond: None of that stuck? Was there anything that you liked doing better than something else? What did you like doing most? Abrams: Reading. That was my favorite thing. - 2 - Richmond What did you like to read? Abrams: Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and all of those children's series of books. I would read one book a week, minimum. I would go to story hour at the library. Richmond: They had a series when I was a kid called the Childhood of Famous Americans? They didn't have that yet? The library was the Newton Public Library? Abrams: Newton Public Library. They had story hour on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Richmond: When did you decide that reading was your most favorite thing? Abrams: Right away. I took dance lessons, tap dance and ballet, but I was not very good at it. After Choate School, I went to Radcliffe. Richmond: Did you ever go to your father's office? Abrams: Yes, we used to go on Saturdays. He took us to court when we were little; we thought the openings were quite funny. He took us to New Bedford to museums and whenever he went far away to a courthouse, he would take us. Richmond: So, mostly you and George and not your sister? Abrams: Not my sister, she was too young. Richmond: What was the name of your father's law firm? Abrams: He was in private practice under his name; when George and I both became lawyers, there was a law firm Abrams, Abrams and Abrams. He was the first Harvard educated lawyer who had two children graduate from Harvard Law School. Richmond: So he was essentially a sole practitioner? Abrams: Yes. - 3 - Richmond: Where did he go to law school? Abrams: Harvard Richmond: He went to Harvard College too? Abrams: He did. He went to Boston Latin School; got a scholarship to Harvard College and a scholarship to Harvard Law School. Richmond: Was he first generation? Abrams: My grandmother was quite young when she came over here so she was not very well educated. So I would say yes. She wasn't born here, but my father was. He was the first generation to go to college. Richmond: Do you know where his parents met? Abrams: No. Richmond: Was your father one of a number of kids? Abrams: He was one of 9. Richmond: Did they all go to college? Abrams: Only the males. Richmond: Sorry I should have figured that out. How many of them were men? Abrams: Three; two of the women died; one of illness and one in childbirth. The three men, my uncle Joe and my father went to Harvard Law School and my uncle Maury went to Harvard Medical School. Richmond: So of the three guys, two became lawyers and one became a doctor? Abrams: Yes. They all went to Boston Latin. Richmond: Where did your uncle Joe practice? Abrams: In Boston. - 4 - Richmond: But not with your father? Abrams: Well, they were both in the same suite, but they were both individual practitioners. My uncle Joe did mostly divorces. My father didn't like divorce; he was a little bit against it. Richmond: How did you know he was against it? Abrams: He would say it. Richmond: Now where did your mom meet your dad? Abrams: I'm not certain; I think somebody fixed them up but I am not certain. Richmond: She wasn't from Radcliffe? Abrams: No, she didn't go to college. Her family came over. Her mother was not the mother of my aunt and uncle. My grandfather's first wife died and then he married my grandmother and she was the only child of that union. She had one sister and three brothers but they are all half siblings. None of them were educated; their children were, but not that generation. Richmond: Where did your mother grow up? Abrams: In the West End. My father grew up in Cohasset or Hingham, I'm not sure. They had a summer place. They happened to go to Harvard on a fluke. The neighbor across the street, Mr. Hutchinson, told my grandmother "your kids are smart; your boys should go to Harvard". When my uncle, who was at Hingham High, got into Harvard, she moved into Boston so he could go to Harvard. My uncle Joe did not go to Boston Latin; he went to Hingham High. When they moved to Boston, it was so my uncle could go to Harvard and the two boys went to Boston Latin School. - 5 - Richmond: So, he was living at home with her in the South End? Abrams: My father had a nickel a day and he could either buy an apple for lunch and walk to Harvard or take the T to Harvard and not eat lunch.
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