Alice Spencer Geddes Lloyd (November 13, 1876 – September 4, 1962) was an American social reformer who founded

Alice Lloyd College Alice Lloyd College is a private work college in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. It was co-founded by the journalist Alice Spencer Geddes Lloyd (a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts) and June Buchanan (a native of New York City) in 1923, at first under t ...

Pippa Passes ''Pippa Passes'' is a verse drama by Robert Browning. It was published in 1841 as the first volume of his ''Bells and Pomegranates'' series, in a low-priced two-column edition for sixpence, and republished in his collected ''Poems'' of 1849, ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. She worked as a writer, editor, and educator. She supported

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and was a

freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

Biography

Alice Spencer Geddes was born in

Athol, Massachusetts Athol is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,945 at the 2020 census. History Originally called Pequoiag when settled by Native Americans, the area was subsequently settled by five families in Septe ...

, on November 13, 1876, and later studied at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

. In her early career in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Alice Geddes worked as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. In 1902, she was publisher and editor of ''The Cambridge Press'', the first United States publication to have an all-female staff.Spotlight: Alice Lloyd College
Foundation CenterOur History
Alice Lloyd College website (accessed June 18, 2009, and August 10, 2013) In 1915 Alice Geddes Lloyd and her husband Arthur Lloyd moved to

Knott County, Kentucky Knott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,251. Its county seat is Hindman. The county was formed in 1884 and is named for James Proctor Knott, Governor of Kentucky (1883–188 ...

, with the goal of improving social and economic conditions,Carl Hoffman
Appalachian Scene: Building Character on Campus
, ''Appalachia Magazine'', September–December 1997, published by the

Appalachian Regional Commission The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established A ...

living at first in Ivis. Their initial work involved provision of health care, educational services, and agricultural improvements to the

Appalachian region Appalachian may refer to: * Appalachian Mountains, a major mountain range in eastern United States and Canada * Appalachian Trail, a hiking trail in the eastern United States * The people of Appalachia and their culture ** Appalachian Americans, e ...

, funded by donations from

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

states. In 1917 Alice Lloyd and her mother moved to Caney Creek, where she had been offered land for a school. She separated from her husband in 1918 and remained in Knott County. She named her Caney Creek home "

" after a poem by

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

and in honor of donors from the New England

Browning Society Browning societies were groups who met to discuss the works of Robert Browning. Emerging from various reading groups, the societies indicated the poet's fame, and unusually were forming in his lifetime.Murray, H. (2002) ''Come, bright improvemen ...

.School in Caney Valley
Time magazine, April 8, 1940 Together with

June Buchanan June Buchanan (June 21, 1887 – May 31, 1988) was an American educator and the co-founder of Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. Early life According to P. David Searles' book, ''A College for Appalachia'', Buchanan was born in upstat ...

, a native of

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, who joined her in Kentucky in 1919, Lloyd founded 100

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s throughout eastern Kentucky and opened Caney Junior College in 1923. The college offered a free education to mountain youth, who were required to promise to remain in the region or return after completing their education. There was a long waiting list for admission. Lloyd imposed strict rules on the students, including no

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

, or

high-heeled shoe High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels, are a type of shoe with an angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the ...

s for girls and no

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

s or "unauthorized meetings with the opposite sex" for boys. Both Lloyd and Buchanan worked without pay at both education and

fund-raising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

. Lloyd is said to have raised some $2.5 million for the college, mainly by

typing Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting and speech recognition. Text can b ...

and mailing fund-raising appeals. On December 7, 1955, Lloyd appeared on the '' This Is Your Life''

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

, whose host

Ralph Edwards Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...

made a direct fund-raising plea on her school's behalf, resulting in a large influx of donations which totaled nearly $250,000. In 1997, the college's director of marketing and communications at the time, Stephen Reed, told a journalist, "We've still got people on our mailing and donor list who saw the show." Lloyd served the college until her death on September 4, 1962. After her death, the college was renamed in her honor. Miss Buchanan served at Alice Lloyd College until 1988, when she died at the age of 100, having lived to see the 1984 opening of the

June Buchanan School The June Buchanan School (JBS) is a private K-12 prep school located on the campus of Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is named after founder June Buchanan, who, along with social reformer Alice Spencer Geddes ...

, a

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

school on the Alice Lloyd College campus named in her honor. A statue of Lloyd was dedicated on October 10, 2009, during a ceremony at the college. Lloyd is portrayed as a

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

character in a one-woman dramatization called "Stay On, Stranger."

References

External links

Alice Lloyd CollegeGuide to Alice Lloyd Caney Creek Community papers, 1915-1923
housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Alice Spencer Geddes 1873 births 1962 deaths Alice Lloyd College people Appalachian culture People from Athol, Massachusetts People from Knott County, Kentucky Radcliffe College alumni American philanthropists Founders of schools in the United States University and college founders

Biography

References

Further reading

External links