Mildred Tilghman Emory Persinger (April 28, 1918 – November 11, 2018) was an American

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and international activist for

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s (NGO). Persinger was born in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

in April 1918. In the early 1960s Persinger served as a public member on the U.S.

Presidential Commission on the Status of Women The President's Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) was established to advise the President of the United States on issues concerning the status of women. It was created by John F. Kennedy's signed December 14, 1961. In 1975 it became the ...

, and on the Committee Against Discrimination of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

. From 1969 to 1972, Persinger was chairwoman of the Conference of the US Conference of NGOs. Persinger was the United States' World YWCA observer at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

from 1968 to the present. Persinger chaired the planning and management of the 1975 NGO Forum parallel to the first UN World Women's Conference in Mexico City, the first of the series ending with Beijing 1985. She turned 100 in April 2018 and died later the same year.Ancestry: Mildred Tilghman Emory Persinger
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Persinger, Mildred 1918 births 2018 deaths American centenarians American feminists Hollins University alumni People from Roanoke, Virginia Women centenarians