THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Patricia Hill Burnett
September 5, 1920 – December 29, 2014
“Stay Mad as Hell ’til You Die, Because We’re Going to Have to Work that Long.”
Acclaimed portrait painter, sculptor, author, beauty pageant contestant, women’s rights activist. Miss Michigan, 1942. Co-founded Michigan’s first NOW chapter, 1969. Served as president until 1972. Head of international committee, 1970s. Organized NOW’s first International Feminist Conference, 1973. NOW Feminist of the Year, 1974. Inducted into Michigan Women’s Historical Center & Hall of Fame, 1987. Commissioned to paint 35 portraits of feminists for the Hall of Fame, Seneca Falls, NY. Michigan Woman of the Year, 1993. Fine Arts Degree, Goucher College Baltimore, Maryland, age 16. Graduate education Instituto Allende, Mexico and Wayne State University, Detroit.
Photo 1. Patricia speaking at the First International Feminist Conference in Mexico 1975, Photo 2. Patricia’s portrait of Betty Friedan.
More About Patricia:
- Obituary, Detroit Free Press
- Veteran Feminists of America
- VFA Fabulous Feminist
- Sheila Tobias introduces Patricia at the Feminist Artists Dinner event, National Art Club, New York City November 6, 2003
- Gloria Steinem introduces Patricia at the Celebrating Kate Millet event, Seventh Regiment Armory, NYC. November 7, 1998
- Muriel Fox and Betty Friedan honor Patricia at the Celebration of NOW’s 30th Anniversary event, November 1996
- Patricia Hill Burnett papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
- Select Films/Interviews:
- 2012 Interview with Patricia Hill Burnett
- Patricia Hill Burnett at the Scarab Club, October 2013
- “Passing the Torch,” a documentary produced by Michael Rose Productions, is a behind the scenes look at the role Michigan women played in the Second Wave feminist movement, 2006
- Patricia Hill Burnett – 1977 International Women’s Year (IWY) Oral History Collection
- Patricia Hill Burnett – Wikipedia
- Cited in Barbara Love’s book, Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975, pages 65, 66