THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Dr. Miriam Slifkin
May 24, 1925 – August 28, 2020
“It was hard for me to remember that, before feminism, I was scared to death to speak before a crowd, I still felt apprehension occasionally, but mostly I got a sense of exhilaration.”
Scientist, lifelong women’s rights advocate. Botany department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Advisor to women students working to establish a women’s studies program; helped to open the Morehead Scholarship program to women. Worked at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), in RTP and labs in London, Oxford, and Saclay, France. President of Chapel Hill’s chapter for the National Organization for Women (NOW). Helped found the Orange County Rape Crisis Center in 1973. Travelled across North Carolina advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment to be passed by the North Carolina General Assembly. Elected president of North Carolina State Civil Liberties Union, 1982. Graduated from University of Alabama, bachelor’s degree, chemistry and bacteriology, 1947. Master’s degree, University of Alabama, 1964. Ph.D. in Botany, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1968.
Photo. Miriam Slifkin, 1970s
More About Miriam:
- Miriam Slifkin Obituary (1925 – 2020), Chapel Hill, NC, The News & Observer
- Miriam Kresses Slifkin, North Carolina Botanical Garden
- “Woman of Achievement, Longtime Chapel Hill Activist Miriam Slifkin,” Chapel Hill Magazine
- Interview with Miriam K. Slifkin, Oral History of North Carolina Women, 2010
- Oral History Interview with Miriam Slifkin, March 24, 1995. Southern Oral History Program Collection
- Miriam Slifkin papers, 1961-2007, Archives & Manuscripts at Duke University Libraries