Ada Jack Carver Snell
Encyclopedia
Ada Jack Carver Snell was an American
short story
writer originally from the historic
city
of Natchitoches
, Louisiana
.
Baptist
couple, Marshall H. Carver and the former Ada W. Jack. Her grandfather, Colonel William H. Jack of Natchitoches, kept pheasants, eagles, and peacocks. Ada graduated from Judson College
in Marion
, Alabama
, the alma mater
of another Natchitoches-area resident, the naturalist
Caroline Dormon
.
On February 25, 1918, Ada married John Barnard Snell (January 21, 1884–March 20, 1959) in Shreveport
, Louisiana, while he was on furlough from the United States Army
during World War I
. John Snell was from Minden
, the seat of Webster Parish
in northwestern Louisiana. From 1913-1917, Snell had been the principal of the newly established Minden High School
. On his return to Minden after military service, he operated his own cotton gin
.
country of her native Natchitoches Parish
. Snell's works began about 1917 and peaked in the middle 1920s. "The Joyous Coast" was published in Southern Women's Magazine in 1917. In 1925, Snell wrote the acclaimed "Redbone", carried in Southern Stories by A. Turner. In 1926, she published "The Raspberry Dress" in The Century, a story of a complex relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter. Indeed, Carver's best stories seem to place the focus on older women. She had a French
grandmother who encouraged her intellectual growth and literary imagination.
Three other works in 1926, "Treeshy", "The Old One", and "Maudie" were published by Harper's Magazine
. Further in 1926, she wrote "The Cajun", a prize-winning play. Caroline Dormon wrote a tribute to Snell in the Minden Signal Tribune, noting that despite her relative inexperience as an author Snell had won prizes over older, established writers. In 1927, Snell penned "Bagatelle". After 1928, her work slowed considerably. A children's play, "The Clock Strikes Tomorrow", was written and produced in 1935. Another short story, "For Suellen with Love", appeared in a college review in 1949. The Collected Works of Ada Jack Carver appeared posthumously in 1980.
Ada was an occasional guest at Cammie G. Henry's popular Melrose Plantation
in Natchitoches Parish, where she met the authors Lyle Saxon
, a native of Washington State who wrote extensively on New Orleans
culture, and Francois Mignon.
Five theses
or dissertations have been written about Ada Snell. In 1930, A. Dodson wrote a thesis entitled "Ada Jack Carver". In 1931, M.I. Bowman wrote the thesis, "The Negro in the Works of Three Contemporary Louisiana Writers", including Snell. In 1975, O.L. Ford wrote the dissertation, "Ada Jack Carver: A Critical Biography." In 1986, M.A. Houston wrote the thesis, "The Shadow of Africa on the Cane: An Examination of Africanisms
in the Fiction of Lyle Saxon and Ada Jack Carver". In 1994, D.M.W. Taylor wrote the dissertation, "Louisiana's Literary Legacy: A Critical Appraisal of the Writings of Ada Jack Carver".
(1921–1987). After graduation from Minden High School and Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge
, David Snell became a journalist
and cartoonist
for Life Magazine and several other national publications.
John and Ada Snell are interred beside "Our Little Son John Hampton Snell", the inscription on the child's grave marker at the old section of Minden Cemetery
. All of Ada's personal papers are believed to have been destroyed at her death upon her request. It is unknown if any manuscripts were pending. Numerous unresolved mysteries cloud the connection between her personal life and her literary output. She was a widow for the last thirteen years of her life. She apparently wrote nothing for four years after the time of John Hampton's death and David's birth. Her death occurred in the same month, December 1972, as the closing of Life Magazine, her son's principal employer.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer originally from the historic
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Background
Ada Snell was born to a middle classMiddle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
couple, Marshall H. Carver and the former Ada W. Jack. Her grandfather, Colonel William H. Jack of Natchitoches, kept pheasants, eagles, and peacocks. Ada graduated from Judson College
Judson College (Alabama)
Judson College, originally named Judson Female Institute, was founded by members of the Siloam Baptist Church in 1838 in Marion, Alabama. It is the fifth oldest women's college in the United States. It was named after Ann Hasseltine Judson, the first female foreign missionary from the United States...
in Marion
Marion, Alabama
Marion is the county seat of Perry County, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 3,511. First called Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed after a hero of the American Revolution, Francis Marion.-Geography:...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, the alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
of another Natchitoches-area resident, the naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
Caroline Dormon
Caroline Dormon
Caroline Coroneos Dormon was a botanist, horticulturist, ornithologist, historian, archeologist, preservationist, naturalist, conservationist, and author from Louisiana. She was born in modest circumstances at Briarwood, the family home in northern Natchitoches Parish, to James L. Dormon and the...
.
On February 25, 1918, Ada married John Barnard Snell (January 21, 1884–March 20, 1959) in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana, while he was on furlough from the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. John Snell was from Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, the seat of Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....
in northwestern Louisiana. From 1913-1917, Snell had been the principal of the newly established Minden High School
Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)
Minden High School is the public secondary educational institution in Minden, a small city of 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana...
. On his return to Minden after military service, he operated his own cotton gin
Cotton gin
A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...
.
Literary works
Ada Snell's short stories reflect a Louisiana setting, particularly the multicultural Cane RiverCane River
Cane River is a lake and river formed from a portion of the Red River that is located in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it has been best known as the site of a historic Creole de couleur culture that has centers upon the National Historic Landmark Melrose...
country of her native Natchitoches Parish
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Natchitoches Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Natchitoches. As of 2000, the population was 39,080. This is the heart of the Cane River Louisiana Creole community...
. Snell's works began about 1917 and peaked in the middle 1920s. "The Joyous Coast" was published in Southern Women's Magazine in 1917. In 1925, Snell wrote the acclaimed "Redbone", carried in Southern Stories by A. Turner. In 1926, she published "The Raspberry Dress" in The Century, a story of a complex relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter. Indeed, Carver's best stories seem to place the focus on older women. She had a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
grandmother who encouraged her intellectual growth and literary imagination.
Three other works in 1926, "Treeshy", "The Old One", and "Maudie" were published by Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
. Further in 1926, she wrote "The Cajun", a prize-winning play. Caroline Dormon wrote a tribute to Snell in the Minden Signal Tribune, noting that despite her relative inexperience as an author Snell had won prizes over older, established writers. In 1927, Snell penned "Bagatelle". After 1928, her work slowed considerably. A children's play, "The Clock Strikes Tomorrow", was written and produced in 1935. Another short story, "For Suellen with Love", appeared in a college review in 1949. The Collected Works of Ada Jack Carver appeared posthumously in 1980.
Ada was an occasional guest at Cammie G. Henry's popular Melrose Plantation
Melrose Plantation
Melrose Plantation, also known as Yucca Plantation, is a National Historic Landmark in Natchitoches Parish in north central Louisiana. This is one of the largest plantations in the United States built by and for free blacks...
in Natchitoches Parish, where she met the authors Lyle Saxon
Lyle Saxon
Lyle Saxon was a respected New Orleans writer, and journalist who reported for The Times-Picayune.-Life:He was born in Bellingham, Washington. He lived in the French Quarter; Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, Roark Bradford, and Edmund Wilson visited.He was an ardent student of the history of...
, a native of Washington State who wrote extensively on New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
culture, and Francois Mignon.
Five theses
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
or dissertations have been written about Ada Snell. In 1930, A. Dodson wrote a thesis entitled "Ada Jack Carver". In 1931, M.I. Bowman wrote the thesis, "The Negro in the Works of Three Contemporary Louisiana Writers", including Snell. In 1975, O.L. Ford wrote the dissertation, "Ada Jack Carver: A Critical Biography." In 1986, M.A. Houston wrote the thesis, "The Shadow of Africa on the Cane: An Examination of Africanisms
Africanisms
Africanisms refers to characteristics of African culture and people that can be traced through societal practices and institutions of the African diaspora....
in the Fiction of Lyle Saxon and Ada Jack Carver". In 1994, D.M.W. Taylor wrote the dissertation, "Louisiana's Literary Legacy: A Critical Appraisal of the Writings of Ada Jack Carver".
Death
John Hampton Snell (February 19, 1919–March 26, 1921), the Snells' first child, died in a household accident at the age of two, only two days before the birth of his brother, David SnellDavid Snell (journalist)
David Snell was a reporter and cartoonist for the defunct Life Magazine and several other publications during his career as a journalist.-Early years, family, education:...
(1921–1987). After graduation from Minden High School and Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, David Snell became a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
for Life Magazine and several other national publications.
John and Ada Snell are interred beside "Our Little Son John Hampton Snell", the inscription on the child's grave marker at the old section of Minden Cemetery
Minden Cemetery
The Minden Cemetery, located in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States, has graves dating from 1843, seven years after the founding of the city in 1836...
. All of Ada's personal papers are believed to have been destroyed at her death upon her request. It is unknown if any manuscripts were pending. Numerous unresolved mysteries cloud the connection between her personal life and her literary output. She was a widow for the last thirteen years of her life. She apparently wrote nothing for four years after the time of John Hampton's death and David's birth. Her death occurred in the same month, December 1972, as the closing of Life Magazine, her son's principal employer.