Florence M. Read

Florence Matilda Read (November 12, 1886 – April 29, 1973) was an American college president and academic administrator. She was president of Spelman College from 1927 to 1953, and the acting president of Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) from 1936 to 1937. Read also wrote a book about Spelman College history.

Early life and education Florence Matilda Read was born on November 12, 1886, in the village of Delevan in Cattaraugus County, New York. Read received her B.A. degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1909,

While she was president at Spelman, she also became superintendent of Atlanta University and helped make arrangements to incorporate women students at Atlanta University into the Spelman student body and college community.

Later years Read was elected Spelman's President Emeritus when she retired in 1953. In 1955, she researched what would later become her history of Spelman College while living in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Read died on April 29, 1973, in Pomona, California.

Honors and awards Read was awarded an honorary degree by Oberlin College in 1939. In 1961 Reed College awarded her an honorary degree. In 1962, Mount Holyoke College bestowed on her the Alumnae Medal of Honor.

Written work The Story of Spelman College. Atlanta, Georgia (1961)