Alice A. Casneau

Alice A. Tolliver Casneau (died 1953), known professionally as Mrs. A. A. Casneau, was an American dressmaker and clubwoman based in the Boston, Massachusetts area.

Alice A. Casneau
BornDecember 1866
Virginia
DiedMarch 24, 1953
Roxbury, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Dressmaker, Activist, Author
Known forClubwoman and leader
SpouseElmer E. Casneau
ChildrenPearl E. Casneau

Career

Casneau was a dressmaker in the Boston area with a recorded land purchase in Everett, Massachusetts.[1] She was also active in the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs when it held its first national conference in Boston in 1895.[2]

One of Casneau's_dresses from her guide

In the same year as the Boston conference she gave a paper on "Morals and Manners" at the meeting of the Woman's Era Club.[3] As a successful businessperson, she gave a presentation on "Dressmaking" at the first meeting of the National Negro Business League, held in Boston in 1900. "If there is no market for your wares in the community in which you live," she told the audience, "find a place that needs you, that needs just the talent that God has given you, and when you have found it, fill it."[4] She was an associate member of the Massachusetts Branch of the Niagara Movement in 1907.[5]

Casneau's "Guide for Artistic Dress Cutting and Making" (1895) was a "remarkable"[6] 73-page booklet.[7] It was one of the ten titles by black women authors available in the reception room of the National Conference of Colored Women in 1895. Her work was also featured on the literature table at the New England Hospital for Women and Children.[8]

During World War I, she served on the executive committee of the Soldiers' Comfort Unit in Boston, a women's group that provided supports for black soldiers stationed in or near Boston.[9] In 1925, she was elected president of the League of Women for Community Service.[10]

Personal life

Alice Tolliver married Elmer E. Casneau, a barber, in 1887.[11] They had a daughter, Pearl E. Casneau, born in 1892.[12] Alice A. Casneau died in 1953 in Massachusetts.[13]

References
  1. Public Documents of Massachusetts 1899, Volume 1 Boston, Massachusetts:Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1900) page 709.
  2. LaVonne Leslie, The History of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, Inc. (2012). ISBN 9781479722655
  3. "Notes and Comments" The Woman's Era (April 1895): 1.
  4. Mrs. A. A. Casneau, "Dressmaking" Proceedings of the National Negro Business League (J. R. Hamm 1901): 78-83; image 78, quote 79-80.
  5. Third Annual Conference of the Niagara Movement (Boston 1907).
  6. Michelle A. Wilson, "Lois Alexander: In search of Black Fashion Designers--old and new" Tri-State Defender (March 10, 1979): 1. via ProQuest
  7. Teresa Wiltz, " "They Got No Fame or Glory, But They Left Their Mark" Chicago Tribune (February 23, 1995).
  8. Elizabeth McHenry, Forgotten Readers: Recovering the Lost History of African American Literary Societies (Duke University Press 2002): 231, 242. ISBN 9780822329954
  9. Emmett J. Scott, Scott's official history of the American Negro in the world war (Homewood Press 1919): 389-390.
  10. William C. Magruder, "Boston News: Organizations" Chicago Defender (March 21, 1925): A8. via ProQuest
  11. Marriages Registered in the City of Boston for the Year 1887.
  12. "Famous Hub Waiter Dead" New York Age (April 14, 1910): 3. via Newspapers.comopen access
  13. Index to Deaths in Massachusetts, 1951-1955.
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