UNC Law Library Remembers Sylvia Mathis

Sylvia Mathis was born in Durham, NC in 1949. Prior to her matriculation at UNC School of Law, she graduated from New York University where she finished her BA after a year at Fisk University.

In May 1975, Mathis graduated from UNC School of Law. Soon thereafter she passed the North Carolina Bar and worked for the Department of Cultural Resources. In addition to becoming the first black female to be recruited as a special agent for the FBI, she was the first female agent recruited in the state of North Carolina. At the time, only 41 agents out of a total of 8,500 in the country were women.

After her tenure at the FBI’s New York City Office from 1976-1979, Ms. Mathis went to work as the Director of the Jacksonville Downtown Ecumenical Service Council (FL), providing support to homeless and unemployed residents of the city.

More information about life and work of Ms. Mathis can be found on the University of North Carolina’s blog History on the Hill.

Photo Source: The Carolina Times, February 21, 1976