Sylvia Buck Hoover Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of one scrapbook page with newspaper clippings from around the time of Hoover’s death, as well as a photograph and a piece of yellow paper with her name, address, and age written in script. The scrapbook page comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Dates
- Creation: 1941
- Creation: 2016
Creator
- Hoover, Sylvia Buck, 1825-1941 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Noncirculating; available for research.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).
Biographical / Historical
When Sylvia Buck Hoover died June 4, 1941, she claimed to be at least 115 years old and a former slave. According to her obituary, Hoover “observed September 28, 1825, as her birth date [but] actually never knew just how old she was because she was born a slave, and no records were kept. Her family said that she might even have been older than 116.” She was born enslaved on the U. H. Buck cotton plantation near Jackson, Tennessee, and the Buck family moved to Lexington, Mississippi where she was Mrs. Buck’s maid. When William Henry Harrison ran for president in 1840, Hoover recalled marching in a campaign parade.
Sylvia Buck married Benjamin Hoover while both were still enslaved in 1856, and “they were separated for the first seven years of their married life” because they resided on neighboring plantations. Both were freed under the Emancipation Proclamation. The 1870-1900 Federal Census records indicate that the Hoovers resided in Holmes County, Mississippi. In 1910, they are located in Leflore County. Hoover relocated to Alameda, California in 1913, where she remained until her death in 1941.
Extent
1 Item (Scrapbook Page) : 302A.B1.A2
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This small collection consists of one scrapbook page.
Provenance
Donated by Jennifer Brannock on October 17, 2016.
Sources
• Case File
• Contents from the collection
• “Active at 107 Years: Eastbay Woman, Born Slave, Celebrates 107th Birthday,” Oakland Tribune, October 2, 1934.
• “Former Slave Dies at 115: Mother of 12 Children, Ranging from 56 to 80, Dies in Alameda,” Oakland Tribune, June 5, 1941.
• FindAGrave for Sylvia Buck Hoover, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50565913/sylvia-hoover.
• “112 Years Old—Plans Party,” Oakland Tribune, September 27, 1938.
• United States Federal Census. Year: 1870; Census Place: Richland, Holmes, Mississippi; Roll: M593_731; Page: 139A; Family History Library Film: 552230.
• United States Federal Census. Year: 1880; Census Place: Beat 1, Holmes, Mississippi; Roll: 649; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 001.
• United States Federal Census. Year: 1900; Census Place: Beat 1, Holmes, Mississippi; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0035; FHL microfilm: 1240810.
• United States Federal Census. Year: 1910; Census Place: Beat 5, Leflore, Mississippi; Roll: T624_748; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0074; FHL microfilm: 1374761.
• United States Federal Census. Year: 1920; Census Place: Alameda, Alameda, California; Roll: T625_87; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 11.
• United States Federal Census. Year: 1930; Census Place: Alameda, Alameda, California; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0222; FHL microfilm: 2339835.
• United States Federal Census. Year: 1940; Census Place: Alameda, Alameda, California; Roll: m-t0627-00183; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 1-23.
- Title
- Sylvia Buck Hoover Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Collection processed and finding aid written by Jonathan Puckett
- Date
- 09 April 2020
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Historical Manuscripts and Photographs Repository
118 College Drive - 5148
Hattiesburg MS 39406-0001
601.266.4345
