Zilpher Jennings

Zilpher Jennings
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
1953–1954
Preceded byOffice created
ConstituencySwains Island
Personal details
Born13 June 1928
Swains Island, American Samoa
Died13 August 1961(1961-08-13) (aged 33)
Fagatogo, American Samoa

Zilpher Margaret Jennings Reed (13 June 1928 – 13 August 1961) was an American Samoan politician. In 1953 she was one of the first two women elected to the Fono, when she won a seat in the House of Representatives.[1]

Biography

Jennings was born in Swains Island in 1928, the daughter of Margaret (née Pedro) and Eli Jennings, the owner of the island.[2][3] She began working in the administration department of the American Samoan government,[4] and married Fritz John Reed, with whom she had two sons in 1956 and 1958.

In the 1953 legislative elections, she was elected to the House of Representatives from Swains Island, one of two women elected to the House alongside Mabel Reid.[5]

She died in 1961.[6]

References

  1. ^ Cox, Elizabeth (1996). Women, State, and Territorial Legislators, 1895-1995. McFarland & Company. Page 53. ISBN 9780786400782.
  2. ^ Swains Island Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940
  3. ^ 'The King of Swains Island,' North of Tutuila, Dies Honolulu-Star Bulletin, 26 December 1958
  4. ^ Samoan Secretary Is Elected Representative The Honolulu Advertiser, 1 February 1953
  5. ^ Elizabeth Cox (1996) Women, State, and Territorial Legislators, 1895-1995: A State-by-state Analysis, with Rosters of 6,000 Women, p331
  6. ^ Jennings v. Jennings American Samoa Bar Association