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Lavinia Hartwell Egan

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Lavinia Hartwell Egan
Lavinia Hartwell Egan, a white woman with dark hair in a bouffant updo, wearing a light-colored tailored suit with a collared white blouse
Lavinia Hartwell Egan, from a 1904 publication
BornNovember 21, 1863
Fairfield, Texas, U.S.
DiedMarch 19, 1945 (age 81)
Mount Lebanon, Louisiana, U.S.
Other namesLavina H. Eagan, Patience Oriel
Occupation(s)Writer, clubwoman, suffragist
RelativesWilliam B. Giles Egan (uncle)

Lavinia Hartwell Egan (November 21, 1863 – March 19, 1945) was an American writer, clubwoman, educator, and suffragist from Louisiana.

Early life and education

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Egan was born in Texas and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, the daughter of James C. Egan and Susan Rebecca Ardis Egan.[1] Her father was a surgeon in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Her Irish-born grandfather Bartholomew Egan and her brother William L. Egan were also prominent physicians in Louisiana.[2] Her uncle William B. Giles Egan was a justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court.[3] She studied at Ward Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, and in Louisiana.[1]

Career

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Egan was president of the Hypatia Club, a women's literary club, president of the Woman's Athletic Club,[4] and president of the City Improvement League, both in Shreveport. She also taught school and sold real estate in Shreveport.[5][6] She was president of the Louisiana State Federation of Women's Clubs,[7][8] and chair of the federation's press committee.[9] She was a member of the Board of Lady Managers at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, appointed by Governor William Wright Heard.[10][11] She was also a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.[1]

Egan wrote a syndicated newspaper column under the pen-name "Patience Oriel". During World War I, she lived in Washington, D.C., and worked in the Office of Military Aeronautics, writing technical articles and press releases. She testified before a Congressional hearing on housing for women war workers during the 1918 flu pandemic.[12] She became a member of the governing board of the National Women's Party,[13] and was a chair of the Woman's Suffrage Party of Louisiana. In spring 1919, she wrote a letter to The New York Times, suggesting that the United States Senate would be better able to do the work of government if they met outdoors, "In the light of God's glorious sunshine, with the breath of heaven to bring refreshment to their souls, the provincialism, the egoism, the befogged vision of the Senators would, no doubt disappear," she proposed.[14]

After suffrage was won, she gave lectures to women's groups about the importance of women's votes, and about the Equal Rights Amendment.[15] "Miss Egan is an ardent feminist," explained one 1921 newspaper report, "and is interested in seeing laws giving women full legal and civil rights written into the statute books of the State of Louisiana."[16] Later in life she wrote local history articles for the Shreveport Journal.[17][18]

Publications

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  • A Bundle of Fagots (1895, collection of short stories)[19]
  • "The Future of the Negro in Fiction" (1895, essay)[20]
  • "The Prize Story" (1895, short story)[21]
  • "Prophetic" (1896, poem)[22]
  • "In the Back Parlor" (1897, short story)[23]
  • "The Old-Fashioned Valentine" (1898, short story)[24]
  • "The Great Exposition and the Home" (1904, article)[25]
  • "My Sweetheart Flower" and "Love's Immortality" (1905, poems)[26]
  • "The Nomination of Stephen Wingate" (1905, short story)[27]
  • "A Piece of Assurance" (1906, short story)[28]
  • "A Miracle" (1907, short story)
  • "Distinctive Homes of Bienville Parish" (1935, article)[17]
  • "Mount Lebanon First Place in State to Grow Castor Beans" (1940, article)[18]

Personal life

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Egan's personal style was considered symbolic of her "uncommon individuality and force of character", as she favored short hair and tailored suits with neckties.[29] She died in 1945, at the age of 81, in Mount Lebanon, Louisiana.[5][30] Her home in Louisiana, Wayside Cottage, was purchased by the Mt. Lebanon Historical Society in 2020, with plans to restore the building as a historic site.[31]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Leonard, John W. (1976). Woman's who's who of America : a biographical dictionary of contemporary women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. Rutgers University Libraries. New York, American Commonwealth Co. Detroit, Gale Research Co. p. 270.
  2. ^ "Egan Family Long Prominent in Medical Profession in Louisiana". The Shreveport Journal. 1941-04-21. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  3. ^ "History of Pioneer Families Written by Mt. Lebanon Woman". The Shreveport Journal. 1933-04-04. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Budget of News". The Caucasian. 1895-10-20. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Lavinia Egan Succumbs at Mt. Lebanon". The Times. 1945-03-20. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Miss Lavinia H. Egan of Louisiana". The National Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly. 20: 638. September 1904.
  7. ^ General Federation of Women's Clubs (1889). Biennial of the General Federation of Women's Clubs: Official Proceedings. p. 164.
  8. ^ Washington, Booker T.; Harlan, Louis R. (1977). Booker T. Washington Papers Volume 7: 1903-4. Assistant Editor, Barbara S. Kraft. University of Illinois Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-252-00666-1.
  9. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. (1916-05-15). "Federation of Women's Clubs". The Shreveport Journal. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Members of the Board of Lady Managers" Bradford's World's Fair Bulletin 4(April 1903): 17.
  11. ^ "One Woman's Part in the Big St. Louis Fair; Miss Egan, of Shreveport, Goes to the East". The Shreveport Journal. 1903-02-15. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Public Buildings and Grounds: Hearings. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1919. pp. 80–82.
  13. ^ "Past President Louisiana Federation of Woman's Clubs Addresses Enthusiastic Gathering of Mexia Ladies of the Friday Club and Delphian chapter; National Woman's Party Leader Who Spoke Here Friday". Mexia Daily News. March 12, 1923. p. 6 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ Egan, Lavina H. "Fresh Air for Senators: Sunlight and the Breeze Might Advance the League of Nations" The New York Times (March 27, 1919): 12; via TimesMachine.
  15. ^ "National Woman's Party Officers Speak at City Hall". The Semi-Weekly Leader. 1921-12-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "National Council Member". Woman's Enterprise. 1921-11-18. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b Egan, Lavinia (1935-11-29). "Distinctive Homes of Bienville Parish". The Shreveport Journal. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b Egan, Lavinia (1940-05-09). "Mount Lebanon First Place in State to Grow Castor Beans". The Shreveport Journal. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Egan, Lavinia Hartwell (1895). A bundle of fagots. The Library of Congress. Franklin, The Editor publishing co.
  20. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. (February 1, 1895). "The Future of the Negro in Fiction". The Dial. 18 (207): 70. ISBN 978-0-252-00666-1.
  21. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. (1895). "The Prize Story". A Book of Tales. Editor Publishing Company. pp. 26–31.
  22. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. (March 1896). "Prophetic". The New Bohemian. 2 (3): 92.
  23. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. (July 1897). "In the Back Parlor". New Peterson Magazine. 8: 651–656.
  24. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. (1898-02-12). "An Old-Fashioned Valentine". Harper's Bazaar. Vol. 31, no. 7. p. 131 – via Internet Archive.
  25. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. The Great Exposition and the Home," Good Housekeeping (May 1904), 452.
  26. ^ Egan, Lavinia Hartwell. "My Sweetheart Flower" and "Love's Immortality", The Bohemian 9(July 1905): 69, 76.
  27. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. "The Nomination of Stephen Wingate" The Bohemian 9(September 1905): 3-16.
  28. ^ Egan, Lavinia H. "A Piece of Assurance" The Bohemian 10(January 1906): 1-20.
  29. ^ "Lavinia H. Egan; a Daughter of the South Who has Won Distinction as a Teacher, Artist, and Writer". The Philadelphia Times. 1895-11-24. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Miss Lavinia Egan Rites Held Tuesday". The Shreveport Journal. 1945-03-20. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Phillips, Will (2020-11-02). "Mt. Lebanon Historical Society purchases home of Lavinia Egan: Rasing funds for restoration". Minden Press-Herald. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
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