Ramona Ann Ripston (February 18, 1927 – November 3, 2018) served as the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) between 1972 and 2011. In her 38 years at the helm of the ACLU SoCal, Ripston had helped bring about substantial reforms in the region.

Early life

Ripston was born on February 18, 1927, in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Her parents were William and Elsie (). In 1948, she graduated from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

with a degree in political science.

Career

Ripston worked for the

New York Civil Liberties Union The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is a civil rights organization in the United States. Founded in November 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, it is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with nearly ...

as its public relations director then moved to the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee in 1965. In 1972 Ripston became director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. She became "the first woman — and one of the few non-lawyers — to head an A.C.L.U. affiliate." At the beginning of her tenure, the ACLU SoCal had six employees and an all-male board of directors. Ripston began to grow the organization and diversify the board; she appointed more women, people of color and members of the LGBT community. By the time she retired from her position in 2011, the ACLU SoCal had 50 employees in two offices.

Personal life

Ripston was married five times. She was the widow of federal judge

Stephen Reinhardt Stephen Roy Reinhardt (born Stephen Roy Shapiro; March 27, 1931 – March 29, 2018) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was the last federal ...

at the time of her death in

Marina del Rey, California Marina del Rey ( Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The eponymous harbor is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles ar ...

, on November 3, 2018.

References

External links

Website of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California

A profile of Ripston on the ACLU/SC website

An audio interview of Ripston by KQED radio
Activists from Queens, New York 2018 deaths 1927 births American Civil Liberties Union people {{US-activist-stub