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Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Dr. Mary Wimmer Papers, A&M 4595, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Wimmer, Mary, 2023 December 08

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Mary J. Wimmer is a retired biochemist and an environmental and feminist activist. She was born to Edward Wimmer and J. Lucina Wimmer and raised in New York. Wimmer graduated with a degree in Chemistry from the University of Albany, State University of New York System (SUNY) in 1971. She then attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she graduated with her PhD in biochemistry in 1975.

Dr. Wimmer began teaching biochemistry at West Virginia University's (WVU) School of Medicine in 1978, where she stayed for 37 years before retiring in 2015. She was a recipient of the WVU Foundation Outstanding Teacher award in 2006.

During her time with WVU and in the Morgantown, West Virginia area, she was active with several activist and activist-adjacent organizations, including the West Virginia Sierra Club, West Virginia Environmental Council, Coopers Rock Foundation, Morgantown Riverfront Task Force, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Morgantown North Rotary Club, and National Organization for Women.

Upon retirement in 2015, she founded the Morgantown Area Paddlers (MAP) club, which would work with other organizations to advocate for the Upper Mon Water Trail. She was awarded the Star of Industry Award by the Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2019 for her work in promoting tourism with MAP.

As of 2025 January, she is a Professor Emeritus with WVU Health Sciences.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains materials collected by Dr. Mary Wimmer during her time as a member of the National Organization for Women (NOW). It includes photograph slides from Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) marches in Washington D.C. and Raleigh, North Carolina, two sashes, a framed Mondale-Ferraro print, a styrofoam ERA hat, and an oversized West Virginia NOW sign.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Equal rights amendments
• West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection
• Wimmer, Mary
• Women political activists
• Women's rights