Miriam Higgins Thomas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Miriam Higgins Thomas
Miriam Higgins Thomas, from a 1975 publication of the United States federal government
Born	Miriam Mason Higgins June 22, 1920 Chicago, Illinois
Died	September 15, 2002
Occupation	Chemist

Miriam Mason Higgins Thomas (born June 22, 1920, died September 15, 2002) was an amazing American chemist. She worked for the United States Army in Natick, Massachusetts. Her job was to research and develop important things for the military.

Early Life and Learning

Miriam Mason Higgins was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were William Henry Higgins and Mame Mason Higgins. Miriam's mother was a very educated woman. She went to the University of Chicago and later became a dean at Bethune-Cookman College. She also helped people through social services in Illinois.

Miriam's brother, William H. Higgins, was a dentist and a minister. Her grandfather, M. C. B. Mason, was a well-known speaker and a leader in the Black church community.

Miriam finished Hyde Park High School in 1936. She then went to Bennett College and earned a degree in nutrition and chemistry in 1940. She continued her studies at the University of Chicago, getting a master's degree in food chemistry.

A Career in Chemistry

Miriam Thomas started her career teaching at the University of Chicago during World War II. In 1945, she became a chemist at the Food and Container Institute in Chicago.

Later, she became a research chemist at the U.S. Army Natick Development Center. Here, she studied the nutritional content of military food rations. She looked at how food changed under different conditions. This was very important for making sure soldiers had healthy meals.

In 1975, Miriam won a special Army SARS Fellowship. This allowed her to travel and study food processing and nutrition analysis. She visited countries like Japan, India, the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, and Guatemala to learn new techniques.

Miriam also worked as a consultant for Food Research Laboratories, Inc., in Boston. She taught classes on nutrition and food science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research was published in important science magazines like Journal of Microwave Power and Journal of Food Science.

The Department of the Army nominated Miriam Thomas three times for the Federal Woman's Award. This award recognizes women who have done outstanding work for the U.S. federal government. She was also a member of several important science groups, including the Association of Vitamin Chemists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Personal Life

Miriam Higgins got married before 1960 and had a son named Brian. She passed away in 2002 when she was 82 years old. Her important papers and research are kept at the National Archives for Black Women's History.