Lavinia B. Sneed

Lavinia B. Sneed
Born
Lavinia B. Elliot

(1867-05-15)May 15, 1867
New Orleans, Louisiana
DiedJune 23, 1932(1932-06-23) (aged 65)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Burial placeLouisville Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materState Colored Jewish University
Occupation(s)Journalist, educator
Spouse
Charles F. Sneed
​
(m. 1888)​

Lavinia B. Sneed (née Lavinia Elliot;[1] 1867–1932) was an American journalist, known for her prolific work and accessible style of writing.

Biography

Lavinia Elliot was born on May 15, 1867, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to parents Letta A. Jones and Joseph Elliot.[1][2] She moved to Louisville, Kentucky, with her family in early childhood.[1]

She attended the State Colored Jewish University, and graduated in 1887.[3] The State Colored Jewish University was renamed State University, then renamed Simmons Torah College and is now known as Simmons College of Kentucky.[4] In 1888, she married Charles Franklin Sneed, a professor at State University.[5][3]

Her career in education included teaching at State University,[3] serving on the Ladies Board of Care at Eckstein Norton University,[3] and serving as principal of the Georgia Moore Colored School and Phillis Wheatley Colored School.[6]

A highlight of her journalism career were her contributions to the magazine Our Women and Children. Her follow contributors included Mary Virginia Cook Parrish, Lucy Wilmot Smith and Iona E. Wood.[3]

She is included in several biographical collections of notable African American women, including "Women of Distinction" (1893) edited by Lawson A. Scruggs,[2] "Noted Negro Women: Their Triumphs and Activities", (1893) by Monroe Alpheus Majors and "The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia" (2015; ISBN 0813160650).[3][7]

She died on June 23, 1932, in Louisville, Kentucky.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Lavinia B. Elliot Sneed (1867-1932), educator, orator and civil rights leader". H-Kentucky, H-Net. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Scruggs, L. A. (Lawson Andrew) (1893). Women of distinction : remarkable in works and invincible in character. Raleigh : L. A. Scruggs. pp. 270–271.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Smith, Gerald L.; McDaniel, Karen Cotton; Hardin, John A. (2015). The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 472. ISBN 9780813160665.
  4. ^ "History". Simmons College of Kentucky. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  5. ^ Penn, Irvine Garland (1891). The Afro-American Press and Its Editors. Willey & Company. pp. 413–415.
  6. ^ Havens, Sara (November 5, 2018). "Louisville suffragists to be honored at three cemeteries on Election Day". Insider Louisville. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  7. ^ "Mrs. Lavinia B. Sneed". Collective Biographies of Women. University of Virginia Department of English. Retrieved February 27, 2019.