Annie E. Vinton

Annie E. Vinton (December 22, 1869 – December 12, 1961) was an American postmistress, politician, and dignitary of Mansfield, Connecticut. She served in the Connecticut House of Representatives. A local elementary school and University of Connecticut dormitory are named in her honor.[1][2]

Annie E. Vinton
Born
Annie E. Rogers

(1869-12-22)December 22, 1869
Mansfield, Connecticut, US
DiedDecember 12, 1961(1961-12-12) (aged 91)
Plainfield, Connecticut
OccupationPostmistress
Organization(s)Town of Mansfield
University of Connecticut

Early life

Vinton was born on December 22, 1869 in Somers, Connecticut, to parents Raymond and Sarah (Collins) Rogers.[3] In 1888 she married Fred Oscar Vinton, a storekeeper and sheriff[4] in Eagleville village.[5]

She served as Eagleville postmistress from 1895 to 1917, appointed to the post by President Grover Cleveland after both the Republican and Democratic parties in Mansfield recommended her for the job.[3]

Public service

Vinton represented Mansfield in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1923 to 1927 and again in 1931, serving on the appropriations committee.[2] She was one of only seven women elected to the state legislature in 1922.[6] In addition, she served 19 years on the Mansfield Board of Education.[1] A longstanding member of the Republican Party, Vinton represented Tolland County for 12 years on the Republican State Central Committee.[6][7]

Vinton was one of the first women to serve on the University of Connecticut's board of trustees, serving from 1922 to 1932. Republican Governor Everett J. Lake appointed Vinton along with Mrs. Otto B. Robinson of Willimantic who served until 1924.[8] Vinton began on Board's home economics committee.[9] In addition, Vinton served on the Board's Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station committee in 1923 and held the office of Board treasurer in 1926. Her father-in-law, Simeon O. Vinton, had been a prosperous local merchant who had served on the college's inaugural board of trustees in 1881–82.[2]

Death and legacy

Vinton died at the age of 91 on December 12, 1961, at a nursing home in Plainfield, Connecticut. Her husband predeceased her, and she had no children. She was interred at the New Storrs Cemetery on a hill overlooking the UConn campus in Storrs.[3]

Opened in 1952, the Annie E. Vinton Elementary School on Route 32 in Mansfield was named in her honor.[10] So was the Vinton House of the Towers Residence Halls located on UConn's Storrs campus.[2]

References
  1. Chronology of Mansfield, Connecticut 1702-1972. Storrs, CT: Mansfield Historical Society. 1974. p. 144.
  2. Facts About the University of Connecticut since 1881 (2nd ed.). Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut. 2002. pp. 1–2, 119. hdl:11134/20004:20071529.
  3. "Mrs. Vinton Ex-Postmistress, Dies in Plainfield". Hartford Courant. 1961-12-14. p. 15. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  4. "Officers - Tolland County". State of Connecticut Register and Manual. Hartford: Secretary of the State of Connecticut. 1925. p. 186. hdl:2027/pst.000015543653 – via HathiTrust.
  5. Mullgardt, Brian (1999). What's in a Name? Residence Halls at UConn. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut. p. 49. hdl:11134/20004:20091712.
  6. "Women Who Won". The Woman Citizen. 7 (13): 10. 1922-11-18 – via Internet Archive.
  7. State of Connecticut Register and Manual. Hartford: Secretary of the State of Connecticut. 1936. p. 404 – via Internet Archive.
  8. Stave, Bruce M. (2006). Red Brick in the Land of Steady Habits: Creating the University of Connecticut, 1881-2006. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. p. 16. ISBN 9781584655695.
  9. The Nutmeg (yearbook). Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut. 1923. p. 7. hdl:11134/20002:859945534. Retrieved 2021-11-30 – via Connecticut Digital Archive.
  10. "About Annie E. Vinton School | Mansfield, CT". Mansfield Public Schools. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
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