Margaret C. Snyder (Wikimedia Commons)
Margaret Snyder, the American Catholic social scientist who died on January 26 at age 91, focused on women’s rights and economic development with implacable resolve. Snyder’s manifold accomplishments were first encouraged by Catholic mentors who believed that rather than speaking reductively of women’s rights or civil rights, the all-embracing term of human rights can be most apt.
A 1946 graduate of The Convent School in Syracuse, N.Y., and a 1950 graduate of the College of New Rochelle, she was inspired by the sense of ethics exemplified by her parents. Her father, a physician who tended impoverished patients and her mother, a silent film pianist who was underpaid for her work because of her gender, provided a model for Snyder’s later career projects. She was also enlightened by local family friends such as Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., later president of the University of Notre Dame. Father Hesburgh also advocated for development and w
“I absolutely couldn’t sleep,” she said. Hafkin spent three hours that night trying to book another appointment through the state’s website. As of Thursday morning, she had struck out.
By Wednesday afternoon, state lawmakers were demanding that Gov. Charlie Baker fix the complicated appointment system. Emergency legislation reportedly filed Thursday by state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, calls for a hotline in multiple languages and a one-stop, online sign-up for vaccinations accessible by desktop computer and mobile phone.
Baker said during a press conference on Thursday that the high volume of people working to secure appointments all at once made for a frustrating day, especially for those who are looking to book an appointment and couldn’t find one.