Eldred Kurtz Means
born 1878; died 1957
Eldred Kurtz Means (March 11, 1878 – February 19, 1957) was an American Methodist Episcopal clergyman, famed public speaker, and author. A white man, he wrote fictional stories about African/African American characters who lived in an area of Louisiana which he named Tickfall. He described the characters in the most grotesque, comical and sensational terms. His magazine stories were compiled into books. He was a constant and prolific contributor to Frank A. Munsey's pulp magazines such as All-Story Weekly, Argosy and its predecessors. His use of black stereotypes, minstrel show motifs, Jim Crow characters, fantastical mimicry and impressionism of Negro dialect made him a popular author with a niche of white audiences; but the implicit racist message has not aged well.
Early life
Means was born in Taylor County, Kentucky, the son of Virginia (née Lively) Means and George Hamilton Means. He married Ella Q. Crebbin in Monroe, Louisiana.
Ministry
Means received a Doctor of Divinity, Centenary College of Louisiana.
He had a far flung clerical career, involving more than a dozen posts:
1899 Ordained ministry Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
1899–1900, Pastor Ghent, Kentucky
1901, Erlanger
1902, Hodgenville
1903–1905, Louisiana Avenue Church, New Orleans
1905–1909, Baton Rouge
1909–1913, Minden
1913–1915, Shreveport
1915–1917, Arcadia
1917–1921, Monroe
1922–1925, Galloway Memorial Church, Jackson, Mississippi
1925–1929, Court St.
The public source identifies “Eldred Kurtz Means” as born 1878; died 1957. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Eldred, Kurtz and Means.
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This entry incorporates text from “Eldred Kurtz Means” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.