Eunice Thomas Miner

Eunice Thomas Miner
Nationality American
Institutions New York Academy of Sciences
Alma mater Boston University
Spouse Roy Waldo Miner

Eunice Thomas Miner was Executive Director of the New York Academy of Sciences from 1939-1967 and affectionately called "Tommy",[1] oversaw the revitalization of the organization and secured a new donated headquarters Norman Woolworth (brother of F. W. Woolworth), and was an advocate for the support of science in public health causes, including collaborating with Hilary Koprowski to support polio vaccine work.[2]

Mrs. Miner joined the organization in 1935 when her work as a Research Assistant in the department of invertebrate biology at the American Museum of Natural History intersected with the Academy's es:Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Life

She graduated from Boston University and was married to Roy Waldo Miner, a curator of zoology at AMNH.[3] She was appointed to the position of executive secretary in 1939 by the Scientific Council of the Academy. Her first efforts as the executive secretary were to conduct a series of membership drives which, according to Simon Baatz, the success of which "relied more heavily on a gregarious nature than on the scientific merits of the organization."[4] By 1948, the membership of the Academy was at 4,000 and required the Academy to find a new home outside of the 2 rooms provided by AMNH. The Academy launched a $1,000,000 fund drive for the purchase of a new home.[5]

Part of Miner's responsibilities in the fund raising campaign included soliciting donations from wealthy philanthropists including Normal Woolworth.[4] Woolworth was "so impressed by Miner's eloquence, energy and enthusiasm that, upon learning of the Academy search for a new home, simply donated his mansion with the sole requirement that the Academy pay all the necessary legal fees involved in the transfer." [4] While Miner was successful in securing the Academy a new home, there is little evidence that the Academy was successful in raising $1,000,000 though it did raise enough to totally refurbish the Woolworth house which was donated as a $1,000,000 gift in 1948.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "A Special Symposium Honoring Eunice Miner". Records of Conferences and Events. New York Academy of Sciences Archives. 4 December 1968.
  2. ↑ Vaughan, Roger (2012-12-06). Listen to the Music: The Life of Hilary Koprowski. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 57–63. ISBN 9781461212928.
  3. ↑ Atkins, Harry (1967). "Eunice Thomas Miner:A Life in Science". The Sciences 7: 41–42.
  4. 1 2 3 Baatz, Simon (May 25, 1990). "Knowledge, Culture and Science In the Metropolis: The New York Academy of Sciences". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 584: 219.
  5. ↑ "Opens $1,000,000 Drive of Academy of Sciences". The New York Times. 16 November 1948. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Scientists Get Woolworth Home in 63rd Street as $1,000,000 Gift". The New York Times. 2 October 1949.


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