Amelia Smead

Amelia Smead (1833 – 1920) graduated from Mount Holyoke College and, in the 1870s, became the first woman elected to the Boston School Board of Education. She then moved to Los Angeles, involving herself with local charities. She was also involved in the women’s suffrage movement and several women’s organizations and the Children’s Hospital.

During the 1890s, she spent vast amounts of time and energy in developing the old Manzana Colony. This was an agricultural enterprise spanning over 2,200-acres in the western end of the Antelope Valley.

The Manzana Colony is pictured here with an unidentified man.

"Gurba, Norma H. Legendary Locals of the Antelope Valley. Arcadia, 2013.

Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"