Maybe like our NY bagels, it’s something in the water that “produced” these impressive women. Ruth Bader Ginsberg grew up in Brooklyn, Sonia Sotomayor in the Bronx, and Elena Kagan in Manhattan. Their families were recent arrivals.

They did not exactly arrive on the Mayflower. Ruth’s father was a Russian-Jewish immigrant and her mother was born in NYC to Austrian Jews. Sonia’s parents were from Puerto Rico. Elena’s grandparents were European Jewish immigrants.

They graduated from New York City High Schools with honors. Ruth from James Madison H.S. Where she was at the top of her class. Sonia was valedictorian at Cardinal Spellman and Elena was valedictorian at Hunter College H.S. They went to prestigious colleges - Ruth to Cornell, Sonia and Elene went to Princeton. They excelled and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Ruth married right out of college and later attended Harvard and Columbia Law Schools. Sonia went directly to Yale Law School and Elena attended Oxford University where she received a Master's in Philosophy and then went on to Harvard.

Their mothers greatly influenced them. Ruth’s mother Celia often spoke of the value of education and regretted that she had to forego her own so that her brother could go to college.

Sonia credits her mother Celina as her “life’s inspiration” and vividly remembers the Britannica Encyclopedia set her mother purchased at great expense and much sacrifice.

Elena’s mother Ruth, a teacher at Hunter College Elementary School, also preached the power of education. Her father, Robert, an attorney and an activist specializing in tenant law were also very influential.

The importance of education in their lives is also reflected in that all three of them taught at prestigious Law schools.

Here are things you should know about Joan Ruth Ginsburg:

• Born in Brooklyn on March 15, 1933.
• An excellent student and had receive a scholarship to Cornell University. 
• She met Martin Ginsburg while at Cornell.
• Ruth graduated in ‘53 and was the highest-ranking female in her class. 
• Married Martin 1 month after graduating. 
• They moved to Oklahoma where Martin fulfilled his ROTC obligation. 
• Ruth worked for the S.S. Administration.
• Enrolled at Harvard Law School, became one of 9 women in a class of 500 men. 
• She became the 1st woman member of the Harvard Law Review. 
• Transferred to Columbia to earn her law degree in ‘59 and was the first woman to be on two major law reviews.
• Rejected by Felix Frankfurter for clerkship due to her gender. Got clerkship under Judge Edward Palmieri from ‘62-63.
• Became a professor at Rutgers University Law School in ‘63. Got paid less than her male counterparts.

As a result of these experiences, she became interested in gender equality and developed a law school case book on sex discrimination.

In ‘72 she co-founded the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. By ‘74 over 300 gender discrimination cases were submitted. Ruth argued 6 cases and won 5. Using a strategy suggested by her secretary the word “gender” was used to refer to the issue. It was felt that the word “sex” would distract the judge.

Aug. 10, 1993, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes the court oath from Chief Justice William Rehnquist, right, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Ginsburg's husband Martin holds the Bible and President Bill Clinton watches at the left. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander, File)

Sonia Sotomayor (left) is accompanied by her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, and her mother, Celina Sotomayor, as she takes the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts to become a Supreme Court justice Saturday in Washington.
( J. Scott Applewhite/AP )

Here are things you should know about Sonia Maria Sotomayor:

• She was born in the Bronx on June 24, 1954.
• At 7 she was diagnosed with childhood diabetes and then her father died when she was 8.
• A big fan of Nancy Drew & TV’s Perry Mason. 
• At Cardinal Spellman H.S. she was a “star”- active in public speaking and student government. 
• Received a full scholarship to Princeton. There as a member of the University’s discipline committee she started to develop her legal skills.
• A member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Summa Cum Laude.
• Awarded the Pyne Prize - the highest undergraduate academic award.
• Before heading to Yale Law School in ‘76 Sonia married her High School sweetheart Kevin Edward Noonan at St Patrick’s Cathedral. They amicably divorced 7 years later.
• At Yale, she was Editor for the Law Review and received her degree in ‘79. 
• Following her graduation, she worked as a prosecutor, a litigator & a judge in various jurisdictions for 18 years. 
• In ‘91 she fulfilled a childhood dream when Daniel Patrick Moynihan recommended her for a federal judgeship. 
• The youngest & the 1st Puerto Rican woman to serve as a judge in the U.S. Federal Court. 

One of her rulings ended the 232-day Baseball Strike in ‘94. Contrary to sexual stereotypes she said, “I hope none of you assumed I was not a baseball fan. You don’t grow up in the South Bronx without knowing baseball.” 

In May of 2009, President Obama nominated her to David Souter’s seat making Sonia the third woman and the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.  I guess Daniel Patrick Moynihan called it.

Here are things you should know about Elena Kagan:

• She was born in the Bronx on June 24, 1954.
• At 7 she was diagnosed with childhood diabetes and then her father died when she was 8.
• A big fan of Nancy Drew & TV’s Perry Mason. 
• At Cardinal Spellman H.S. she was a “star”- active in public speaking and student government. 
• Received a full scholarship to Princeton. There as a member of the University’s discipline committee she started to develop her legal skills.
• A member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Summa Cum Laude.
• Awarded the Pyne Prize - the highest undergraduate academic award.
• Before heading to Yale Law School in ‘76 Sonia married her High School sweetheart Kevin Edward Noonan at St Patrick’s Cathedral. They amicably divorced 7 years later.
• At Yale, she was Editor for the Law Review and received her degree in ‘79. 
• Following her graduation, she worked as a prosecutor, a litigator & a judge in various jurisdictions for 18 years. 
• In ‘91 she fulfilled a childhood dream when Daniel Patrick Moynihan recommended her for a federal judgeship. 
• The youngest & the 1st Puerto Rican woman to serve as a judge in the U.S. Federal Court. 

One of her rulings ended the 232-day Baseball Strike in ‘94. Contrary to sexual stereotypes she said, “I hope none of you assumed I was not a baseball fan. You don’t grow up in the South Bronx without knowing baseball.” 

In May of 2009, President Obama nominated her to David Souter’s seat making Sonia the third woman and the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.  I guess Daniel Patrick Moynihan called it.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., administers the Constitutional Oath to Elena Kagan in the Justices' Conference Room on Saturday, August 7, 2010. Jeffrey P. Minear, Counselor to the Chief Justice, holds the Bible. Witnesses included Marc and Irving Kagan (brothers) and Justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg & Sonia Sotomayor.
( Image by Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the US )