Lloyd, Alice Spencer

Lloyd, Alice Spencer (b. Geddes) (1876–1962) educator; born in Athol, Mass. A Massachusetts newspaper editor, lecturer, and free-lance writer, she became disabled by spinal meningitis and—her brief marriage having failed—moved in 1916 to impoverished Knott County, Ky. With her mother she founded many elementary and secondary schools, and tuition-free Carey Junior College (later Alice Lloyd College) (1922), many of whose graduates became leaders in Appalachia. Along with a strict curriculum, she enforced almost puritanical rules at her college. The college was supported by gifts she solicited and staffed by college graduates who were attracted by her ideals. She left there only once—in 1951, to appear on the TV program, "This is Your Life," which helped raise $50,000.