Venice Tipton Spraggs (1905 – 1956) was an American journalist. She is known for being the Washington Bureau Chief for The Chicago Defender.
Venice Tipton Spraggs | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1905 Birmingham, Alabama |
| Died | 1956 (aged 50–51) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Spraggs née Tipton was born in 1908 in Birmingham, Alabama. She attended Spelman College.[1] Spraggs was the Washington Bureau Chief for The Chicago Defender.[2] Her column in The Chicago Defender was titled "Women in the National Picture".[1] In 1947 Spraggs became the first Black to be elected to Theta Sigma Phi (now the Association for Women in Communications).[3]
Spraggs died in 1956 at the age of 51.[1]
The printing plate of a portrait of Spraggs that was used by The Chicago Defender is in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c Fletcher, Charlene J. (4 February 2014). "Venice Tipton Spraggs (1905-1956)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ "Meet the first two African American women in the White House press corps". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ Smith, Elaine M. (2003). Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women: pursuing a true and unfettered democracy. Alabama State University, for the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, National Historic Site, National Park Service. p. 19.
- ^ "Printing plate of Venice Spraggs used by The Chicago Defender". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
Further reading
edit- "To Speak When and Where I Can": African American Women's Political Activism in South Carolina in the 1940s and 1950s, by Cherisse Jones-Branch, The South Carolina Historical Magazine Vol. 107, No. 3 (Jul., 2006), pp. 204–224