Hampshire Mourns Founding Faculty Member Miriam Slater

Slater will be remembered for her unique and outstanding academic achievements and by a generation of students at Hampshire and Smith Colleges, her greatest legacy countless empowered women who continue to spread her wisdom, such as “Never turn down a job you haven’t been offered,” “When given a choice, always give the job to a woman,” “Always ask for more money,” and “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”

Born August 22, 1931, in Brooklyn, N.Y., she married Paul Slater (who predeceased her) at age 16. The couple bought a chicken farm in East Brunswick, N.J., and sold eggs for 17 years.

Slater received her undergraduate degree from Douglass College at Rutgers University and went on to become the second woman to earn a doctorate from Princeton University, the first woman to do it in the subject of history.

After receiving her degree, in Tudor-Stuart history, Slater moved her family to Amherst to teach at Hampshire, where she served as the first house master of Dakin House. She also reunited with dear friend and former teaching colleague Professor Emerita of History Penina Glazer, whom she initially met as an undergraduate. Slater and Glazer taught scores of undergrads about the history of the family and women’s studies and wrote books and articles together. Slater was proud of her years of teaching and of her leadership at Hampshire to try to shape it into a feminist institution. She taught later at Smith College, an institution she was also proud to serve. Years after retiring, she would continue to hear from students about the positive role she played in their lives.

“Miriam was an extraordinary person,” Glazer recalls. “I cotaught with her many times and always learned something new. Whether she was teaching about the English gentry of the 17th century or expounding on the ‘myth of raising the perfect child,’ her vast knowledge and down-to-earth presentation always came through. Writing a book together about the entrance of women into the professions was a great adventure. But most of all, I loved working with Miriam to participate in the building of the College. Having her as a friend was one of the greatest privileges of my life.”

Slater punctuated her career with domestic rituals, such as making rugelach, lemon meringue pie, dacquoise, rice pudding, coffee cake, and a variety of other baked delights she re-created from memory, measuring ingredients by pinches and feel. She welcomed generations of children with handknit sweaters and onesies, her fingers deftly following long-memorized patterns.

Slater is survived by her children, Margaret and Leo Slater, and daughter-in-law Eden; her sister and brother, Irene Voit and Carl Hartzman; Shari Roberts, essentially another daughter; her second husband, Bill; her half-brothers, Bob and Barry Solomon, and Barry’s wife, Pam; and two grand-kitties and a grand-puppy.

Early in Slater’s academic career, a senior professor, commenting on her Brooklyn accent, said to her, “I can see Princeton didn’t rub off on you,” to which Slater responded, “No, I rubbed off on Princeton.” Indeed, she rubbed off on us all.

Photographs courtesy of Hampshire College Archives.