ANDERSON — Lillie (Vontress) Givens Manuel will be remembered for her perseverance and her love for Anderson’s history.

Givens Manuel, who died Monday at 91, worked for Anderson Community School Corp. from 1967 to 1980 as an English teacher. She also compiled the book series “Black History of Anderson and Madison County, 1937-67,” a compilation of four books, each with more than 500 pages of information, on a 30-year history of the African-American culture in Madison County.

Several people, including former history teacher and local historian Doug Vermillion, worked on the project for more than five years with Givens Manuel.

“She was just a wonderful person,” Vermillion said. “She was always a very happy person and a very energetic person, and her pleasantness and energy were electrifying to those around her. She inspired you, inspired you to think about things, inspired you to do things that you might not otherwise do.”

Givens Manuel was the first black person to receive the Elwood H. Phillips Award for outstanding historical service to the county in 1997.

When she was honored for the accomplishment by the African-American Leadership Forum in 2003, she said, “I want to start another volume from 1967 to the end of the century. But, I’m 86 and getting old, so I hope I can make it to finish that project.”

“I know that Lillian will be very much missed in the community, because she contributed so much, especially in the area of disclosing the African-American history, which was relatively hidden,” Vermillion said.

Givens Manuel was born in 1916 in Warren County, Ky., one of 10 children in an impoverished family. She moved to Madison County in 1942 with her first husband, James Givens, after she received her bachelor’s degree from Kentucky State Industrial College.

In 1963, Givens Manuel started a graduate studies program at Ball State Teachers College, earning a master of arts degree in English in 1965. In 1967, she was hired to work at Central Junior High School in Anderson.

Being very involved in the community, Givens Manuel became the first black person to be appointed to the Anderson Board of Public Safety, and she was the first black person and the first woman to be on the Madison County Board of Health.

After the loss of her second husband, Milton Manuel, she devoted herself to writing two volumes of family history before starting to tackle the history of blacks in Madison County.

“I met her when I worked at the library,” said Phyllis Leedom, who worked on the books with Givens Manuel.

What was supposed to be a monthlong project turned into years of research and compiling.

“One of the reasons it took so long is we kept finding more things,” Leedom said.

Leedom said people always liked to work with Givens Manuel, who was passionate about her work.