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Former Spelman College classmates of the late novelist Tina McElroy Ansa want her vibrant legacy to continue through a scholarship fund.
The Tina McElroy Ansa Endowed Scholarship for Emerging Writers has been established at the school. The late writer graduated from Spelman College in 1971. Her best friend and former college roommate, Wanda S. Lloyd, is working to raise $50,000 in donations.
Interest from the $50,000 raised will fund the scholarships. The endowment ensures that there will always be a scholarship in McElroy Ansa’s name at Spelman, Lloyd said.
Donations in the amount of $10 or more can be made online.
McElroy Ansa died unexpectedly in September in her home on St. Simons Island at the age of 74. A memorial, organized by Lloyd, was held at Emory University’s Cannon Chapel in November. Numerous fellow graduates of McElroy Ansa’s reflected on her life, as well as her unapologetic expression of having a spiritual connection to ancestors, which was a theme in the novelist’s storytelling.
“She was a very spiritual woman… in terms of understanding and hearing from the ancestors, and being guided by the spirits in her life and in her family,” Lloyd told SaportaReport on Tuesday.
McElroy Ansa became the first Black woman to be hired by The Atlanta Constitution morning newspaper in 1971. Her first novel, “Baby of the Family” was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1989.
A collection of the Tina McElroy Ansa Papers from 1977 to 2015 is held at Emory University. They include notes, correspondence, calendars and multiple revisions of “The Hand I Fan With,” “You Know Better,” “Baby of The Family” and more.
Lloyd said that she wants the endowed scholarship to help students financially, and also preserve McElroy Ansa’s legacy.
“I want Tina to be remembered as one of the early African American writers of literature that inspired thousands of readers to understand… literary writing that has depth, writing that makes people think… and great character development. That is what Tina was known for early on… “
“I particularly want to encourage African American women writers to emulate her in their own way.”
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