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Hundreds of people descended on Capitol Hill Wednesday to gather and pay their respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she lies in repose at the Supreme Court today and Thursday.

Ginsburg’s public viewing drew a range of visitors in the early hours of Wednesday morning and well into the afternoon, as scores waited in line — some for hours — to honor the legal titan. Longtime D.C.-area residents were joined by those traveling from the Midwest and beyond: onlookers ranged from adults to 6-month-old babies, many wearing collars, face masks and clothing to pay homage to the longtime justice.

Several emphasized the direct impact that Ginsburg’s extensive work in women’s rights had in their lives and their children’s lives. Many who came to honor the justice outside the Supreme Court said that showing up in person for Ginsburg’s viewing felt like a repayment for the ways she showed up for them during her tenure on the high court.

Ginsburg, an associate justice since 1993, died of complications from pancreatic cancer on Friday at the age of 87. Thousands of people have gathered outside of the Supreme Court since news of Ginsburg’s passing to honor the justice and to grieve for her, leaving flowers, signs, and candles behind.

Kasey Didier and Karin Jamel drove to D.C. from Milwaukee with their daughters to show them “it’s important to remember important people in our history.”

“She meant so much to so many women,” Didier says. “I feel lucky that I was a homeowner, and I wouldn’t have had that right without her.”

Julie Miles and her 13-year-old son Henry left their home in Columbus, Ohio, around 6 p.m. Tuesday night to make it to the Supreme Court by 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.

“I own my own business and I owe everything to her,” Miles says. “I didn’t have a strong, independent, female role model growing up so I didn’t realize that’s who she was for me. Now that she’s gone, I just feel profound sadness for what we’ve lost, what I’ve lost, what our country has lost.”

The crowd featured a mix of children — including Ashley-Lauren Schreiber’s six-month-old daughter, Wells, who donned a dissent collar in honor of the justice.

“We just thought it was really important to bring her out here to say that she was here,” says Schreiber, who lives in Richmond. “We wanted to make sure that she knew that we cared enough to come.”

Attorney Joelle Gotwals brought her 8-year-old daughter Neva to pay respects on Wednesday, taking a break from Neva’s virtual school day to share the historic moment together and to honor Ginsburg’s “strength and dignity.”

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always been both a personal and a professional hero of mine,” Gotwals says, holding back tears. “[My daughter] is a fan, not only of the late Justice Ginsburg, but also Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and it’s something that she and I share together. It was important for us to be here today.”

Others visiting the Supreme Court expressed that Ginsburg’s death was almost too momentous to fully understand. Kat Kelly-Chung, a Baltimore-area resident, has never attended the viewing of a prominent leader, and says that paying respect to the justice on Wednesday felt too deep to put into words.

“It seems so surreal,” says Kelly-Chung. “I think I need to be here because I just don’t believe that she’s really gone.This one has been a hard one for me to even put any of my thoughts or emotions into words, into expression.”

While Kelly-Chung says she’s scared for the country with the “heart wrenching” passing of Ginsburg, she also says she hopes that the loss inspires a new generation of leaders to carry out the justice’s legacy.

“I do have a lot of hope in our young adults right now, and I think they’re going to have the potential to shift things, not just here but in the world,” Kelly-Chung says. “I feel like we’ve been living on the wrong side of the coin and they’re ready to flip it. And I’m looking forward to all of that — even the struggles that come with that.”

Around 9:30 a.m., the justice was carried into the court’s Great Hall where close family and justices held a special memorial ceremony. Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt and Chief Justice John Roberts spoke of Ginsburg’s contributions to the country, her family, and the court.

Crowds, meanwhile, continued to grow outside, weaving through the maze of gates leading up to the building as members of the public prepared for the viewing. D.C. native Rick Roy, a longtime employee tasked with cleaning the Supreme Court building (he says the justice was always tidy) sold “Notorious RBG” shirts to those gathering for a place in line. Melissa Byrne, a representative with a court justice advocacy organization, handed out free face masks to the crowd, printed with the words “honor her wish.”

“We wanted to do something that fit the occasion, and everybody needs to wear masks because we protect each other,” Byrne says. “And all of this court work is a form of protecting each other as well. [Giving out masks is] a simple way to honor her wish.”

Southern Virginia resident Brianna Martinez was among one of the hundreds waiting to pay their respects by mid-morning. Martinez drove more than three hours (plus a 45-minute Metro train ride) to make it to the court on Wednesday. She says being surrounded by hundreds of others honoring Ginsburg made the trip worthwhile — no matter how long it took.

“It means a lot being with a bunch of people who also recognize her legacy, and the monumental person — not just in jurisprudence, but in social justice, feminism, women’s rights, human rights. It feels important to be here, that’s why I didn’t care how far the drive or how long I had to wait in line. I just wanted to show up for her.”

The justice’s casket will lie in repose under the Portico at the top of the building’s front steps for members of the public to view outside from about 11 a.m. to until 10 p.m. Wednesday, and from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursday.

After that, Ginsburg will be the first woman and first Jewish person to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall on Friday.

Ginsburg will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery next week.