Miriam Slater

Miriam Slater

Northampton, MA - Miriam Slater, born August 22, 1931, died peacefully at her home in the Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton, MA on June 25, 2025.

Miriam lived an extraordinary 93+ years. Born in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, she had a very difficult childhood. However, from that rough start she found a new family – one she would quickly consider her own, as well as her husband, Paul Slater, who predeceased her (failing to pursue his plans that, when one of them died, he was moving to California).

Miriam will be remembered for her unique and outstanding academic achievements and by a generation of students at Hampshire and Smith Colleges – her greatest legacy being 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."

Miriam was the first woman to earn a PhD in history at Princeton University – and only the second woman to receive a PhD from that institution. She would regale friends and family with heartbreakingly funny stories of Ivy League life at that time – unique in that she was not only a parent, older student, and from a working-class background, but also a Jewish woman. Who else would be asked during their Princeton interview about their bathroom habits?

After receiving her degree in Tudor-Stewart history, Miriam moved her family from New Jersey to Amherst, Massachusetts to teach at Hampshire College – an event written about by New Woman with a thumbnail photo on the cover of the magazine of Paul holding a chicken above the caption: I gave up my egg farm for my wife's career.

At Hampshire she reunited with a dear friend, Penina Glazer, who she initially met as an undergraduate at Douglass College at Rutgers University. Miriam and Penina taught scores of undergrads about the history of the family and women's studies and wrote books and articles together. Miriam was proud of her years of teaching and of her leadership at Hampshire to try to shape it into a feminist institution. Miriam also later taught at Smith College, an institution she was very proud to serve. Years after retiring Miriam would continue to hear from her students about the positive role she played in their lives.

In fact, if you were at Smith up until a few years ago, you likely saw Miriam walking around the campus. She was hard to miss: purple terminator-style wraparound sunglasses, a large sunhat in the summer or colorful handknit cap in the winter, a brightly colored coat or scarf, and a very cute and fluffy dog led, inexplicably, on a Grateful Dead leash.

Miriam punctuated her career with homemade rugelach, lemon meringue pies, dacquoise, rice puddings, coffee cakes, and a variety of other baked delights she made from memory, measuring ingredients by pinches and feel. And Miriam welcomed generations of children with handknit sweaters and onesies, her fingers deftly following long-memorized patterns.

Miriam had a huge heart and deeply loved and welcomed anyone lucky enough to enter her orbit. As a child already on her own, she met and became chosen family of Faye and Sonny Hartzman (Grandfaye and Grandsonny to the children). They provided the love and family she never had as well as knitting and crocheting skills she wielded till very near the end of her life. She had a close circle of near-lifelong friends. In addition to Penina Glazer and her husband, Mickey, Miriam was dear friends with Louise Bloomberg and her husband, Sanford. She became friends with Rita Gresl (and introduced her to her husband) at the job where she did all her boss's work for a secretary's salary. That job motivated Miriam to go to college. And Miriam was ecstatic about reconnecting late in life with long-lost half-brothers, Barry (and his wife Pam) and Bob Solomon, with whom she had lost contact in the tumult of her early years. In her later years, Miriam forged deep relationships with the women who helped her through her days: Joan (chosen family), Cat Shaw, and Amber from Elite Home Care Agency; Stephanie from Kendal at Home (a huge help early on behind-the-scenes); staff at Rockridge who were incredibly supportive and friendly and loved to listen to her stories. They also kept a close eye on her and were invaluable during her hospice care. If we list them, we'll leave out someone important out, but please know how special you were to Miriam and especially to her family. Fisher House Hospice was a great choice. Mom's cardiologist Nancy Logan was so understanding and accommodating particularly in mom's final months. Dr. May Awkal and her PA's, especially Rachel, made mom's last few years as easy as possible.

Miriam 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 and her husband Bill; her half-brothers Bob and Barry Solomon and Barry's wife Pam; and two grand kitties and a grand puppy.

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

Donations can be made in Miriam's memory to Hampshire College, Office of College Advancement, 893 West St., Amherst, MA 01002 or at donate.hampshire.edu or a charity of your choice.