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Gloria Pritchard was born on April 13, 1911 in Newport, Arkansas to Ethel Lynch Griffin and Will Griffin. Her maternal grandfather, Kenneth Lynch, was the youngest brother of John Roy Lynch, a reconstruction congressman from Mississippi. John Lynch chaired the executive committee of the Mississippi Republican Party, was delegate to four national conventions, the first black to chair a Republican national convention in 1884, and fourth auditor of the U.S. Treasury. Family members honored his memory and presented him as a role model for Gloria and her brother, William.
Pritchard grew up in Newport, experiencing many of the problems of Jim Crow segregation. When she was 2, she witnessed the last lynching of a black man in her town. Because there was no separate high school for blacks, she threatened to attend the white high school unless the school district provided her with an education. The school board compromised by allowing her to attend classes at night and on Saturdays. While in high school she taught fourth grade. She then moved to Memphis, Tennessee where she received her teacher certification from LeMoyne-Owen College and took courses in business administration at Henderson College. In 1928 she moved to Missouri to attend Lincoln University. The following year she married her English teacher, James Clinton. They had one child, Dolores, born in 1929, and were divorced in 1939. During the 1930s and 1940s Pritchard taught grade school at Wright City and Williamsburg, Missouri.
She and LaSalle Pritchard married in 1945. Pritchard became involved in community and political organizations as a member of the Americans for Democratic Action, the Dunkers (an international study group), the NAACP, St. Louis Association of Colored Women's Clubs, St. Louis Council of Negro Women, St. Paul's A.M.E. Church, and the Zeta Sigma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho. In 1957 KATZ radio hired her to host the "World of Women," a public service program specializing in interviews with prominent black women and news of black women's activities. In 1960 she introduced and hosted the 'Great Negro Artists" show which featured symphonies, operas and folk songs composed or performed by blacks. Her radio fame led to many emcee appearances at clubs, churches, dances and shows. She founded Letters, Inc., a club where black women could discuss political issues and write their congressmen, senators, or government agencies expressing opinions or urging action. Letters, Inc. was the first black group to work in the Salvation Army Tree of Lights campaign in the early 1960s. In 1961, she and six other black women started the KATZ Educational Fund, (which later became the St. Louis Educational Fund.) The group assisted disadvantaged youth with small donations for shoes or-eyeglasses to help them stay in school.
Pritchard directed the Medicare Alert campaign in 1966 to inform the elderly of the new program. She taught Head Start for the Human Development Corporation but left to work at the Division of Employment Security. She was the first black woman employed as a professional in the St. Louis office.
A strong supporter of Democratic politics, she was a precinct captain for the 26th Ward. She worked on all campaigns but particularly in William Clay's 1968 bid for the U.S. Congress, A.J. Cervantes' 1965 mayor's race, and Warren Hearnes 1964 governor's race. In 1970 Mayor Cervantes named her to the St. Louis Commission on Crime and Law Enforcement.
Pritchard began writing poetry at age seven. She continued to write and in 1931 won a Reader's Digest prize for an essay on "The Most Remarkable Person I Ever Knew". In St. Louis she joined the Tuesday Poetry Group, the Poetry Center, the Friday Literary Society, and the Missouri Writers' Guild. In 1953 she published a book of her poems, TREES ALONG THE HIGHWAY. She also wrote for newspapers and periodicals and was the poetry editor of the Pittsburgh Courier and an associate editor of the St. Louis Times. Her interest in poetry and literature included an appreciation of black art and culture that she emphasized after a trip to Africa.
In 1964 Charles Dennis, a senior statesman of Liberia, invited her to the 117th anniversary of the independence of the Republic. She visited Liberia for two months and attended receptions, dinners, dedications, and balls given by President William Tubman and Vice-president Dr. William Tolbert, Jr. When she returned to St. Louis she planned and produced the first African fashion show in St. Louis at the WOHL Center. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s Pritchard continued to stress the importance of African culture in fashion shows, black history pageants, and exhibits.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Gloria Pritchard Addenda contains a variety of information about Pritchard and information she gathered on her areas of involvement and interest. The correspondence includes letters to her but not from her. Her personal papers are a variety of her achievements and material of her interests. The publications include newsclippings, publications, and photographs record Pritchard and her interests.
There are several handwritten notes throughout the collection, which are written by Pritchard to explain the documents.
This collection is the Addenda to the Gloria Pritchard Papers. See collection #150 PRITCHARD, GLORIA (1911- )
PAPERS, 1910-1983
SERIES DESCRIPTION
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
Folders 1-4, arranged chronologically, include general correspondence to Gloria Pritchard from many different individuals. Some letters are from famous people including St. Louis Mayor A.J. Cervantes, President John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Senator Hubert Humphrey.
SERIES 2: PERSONAL PAPERS
Folders 5-14 include Gloria Pritchard's awards, copyrights and patents, and retirement material. Also included are, brochures, invitations, programs, and material on KATZ, Mother's Forum, the National Association of Negro Musicians, the St. Louis Committee for Peace in Vietnam, theater, and travel.
SERIES 3: PUBLICATIONS
Folders 15-19, contain newsclippings about Africa and Gloria Pritchard and her interest areas and publications on her interest areas.
SERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS
Folders 20-21 include images of Gloria Pritchard and her friends. Pritchard included handwritten notes on separate sheets of paper with some of the photographs, and the processor put this information on labels and put them on the photographs.
FOLDER LIST
Box 1
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
1. General Correspondence, 1952-1959
2. General Correspondence, 1961-1969
3. General Correspondence, 1971-1979
4. General Correspondence, 1980-1989, n.d.
SERIES 2: PERSONAL PAPERS
5. Award, 1981
6. Copyright and Patents, 1953, 1986, 1989
7. Brochures, Invitations, and Programs, 1954, 1960-1989
8. Retirement Material, 1976
9. KATZ, 1961-1962
10. Mother's Forum, n.d.
11. National Association of Negro Musicians, 1959, 1962-1963
12. St. Louis Committee for Peace in Vietnam, 1965
13. Theater Material, 1983, n.d.
14. Travel Material, 1964, n.d.
Alex Haley poster,1978-Map Drawer
Box 2
SERIES 3: PUBLICATIONS
15. Newsclippings about Africa, 1961, 1964-1965
16. Newsclippings, 1952-1989, n.d.
17. Publications, 1961, 1963-1964, 1968
18. Publications, 1972-1973, 1987-1988
19. Publications, n.d.
SERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS
20. Photographs, 633.1-633.52
21. Photographs, 633.53-633.85
INDEX
African Americans, f. 1-21
Afro-American Arts Festival, f. 7, 20
Beck, Dr. Ted, f. 21
Bell, Dolores, f. 20
Bell, Don, f. 20
Bell, Tony, f. 20
Berther, Rev. Patrick, f. 21
Bethune, Mary McLeod, f. 20
Carey, Judge Archibald, f. 20
Carp, Larry, f. 21
Cervantes, Mayor Alfonso J., f. 2, 7, 16
Clark, Annie, f. 20
Collins, Rev. F. J., f. 21
Dennis, Charles, f. 20
Dennis, Doris, f. 21
Dickman, Mayor Bernard, f. 21
Dilliard, Irving, f. 16
Dreer, Herman, f. 2
East St. Louis Riots, f. 17
Edwards, Dr. L., f. 21
Ethical Society of St. Louis, f. 2, 7
Evil, Dianne or Diane, f. 20, 21
Evile, Dianne or Diane, f. 20, 21
Fisher, Genevieve, f. 20
Franklin, John Hope, f. 4
Garrett, Nancy, f. 20
Gellhorn, Edna, f. 1
Geni, system of food distribution, handling and storage, f. 6
Gibson, Althea, f. 21
Griffin, Dorothy, f. 21
Griffin, William Henry, f. 21
Hamilton, Mark, f. 20
Hamilton, Sam, f. 20
Harrison, William, f. 21
Henry, Lottie, f. 21
Hicks, John J., f. 20
Hornback, James, f. 2
Hornbeck, Jeff, f. 20
J. Roy Terry School of Music, f. 2
Jordan, C. P., f. 20, 21
KATZ Radio Station, f. 2, 9, 16
Kessler, John J., f. 21
Keys, U. S., f. 20, 21
Lippman, Alice, f. 21
Loy, Myrna, f. 20
Mature, Victor, f. 21
Mother's Forum Committee, f. 10
National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., f. 11
Nations, Carolyn, f. 21
O'Hare, Frank, f. 16, 21
Porter, Ruth, f. 21
Pritchard, Gloria, f. 1-21
Rhetts, Charles Edw., f. 20
Roberts, Lailya, f. 21
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, f. 5, 7, 20
Simons, Emma, f. 21
Slavin, Alberta, f. 20
Smith, Addie, f. 21
Smith, Huston, f. 1
St. Louis Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc., f. 7
St. Louis Committee for Peace in Vietnam, f. 12
St. Louis Council of the National Council of Negro Women, f. 7
St. Louis Repertory Company, f. 13
St. Louis Theatre Guild, f. 13
Start, Clarissa, f. 15, 16
Stone, Charles, f. 20
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, f. 2
Swarn, Thelma, f. 21
Temple, Josephine, f. 20, 21
Thomas, Joseph, f. 20
Twiss, Marge, f. 21
United Nations Fair/Show, f. 7, 16, 20, 21
Varner, Jerome, f. 21
Varner, Margaret, f. 21
Walker, Vivian, f. 20
Walton, Walt D., f. 20
Wamble, Vivian, f. 20
Wayne, Jenny, f. 21
Wayne, Kathy, f. 21
Wright, Austin, f. 21
Young, Judge Nathan B., f. 20
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