Who is Luvenia Lewis from The Glory Field and what is their importance?

Luvenia Lewis is the oldest child of Elijah Lewis and Goldie (Paige) Lewis. Luvenia's younger brother is Richard Lewis. Luvenia is Lizzy's granddaughter and Moses and Saran's great-granddaughter. Luvenia is also the great-aunt of Malcolm Lewis. Luvenia enters the narrative in 1930, when she is sixteen years old. Luvenia is tall and dark-skinned and she has ideas of her own. When Luvenia is first introduced, she is in turmoil because she does not wish to move to Curry Island with her parents. Luvenia has dreams of going to college and living the life of a big city girl. Luvenia is intelligent as well as resourceful and she believes that she can make a success of her life as long as her parents will permit her to live in Chicago on her own. When the chapter opens, Luvenia has a job as a live-in maid for a white family. Luvenia admits that she adores Florenz Deets (her employers' college-age daughter) because Florenz seems to have everything Luvenia wants: school, friends and a life of privilege. Luvenia does not view her color as a barrier.

Luvenia sings in the choir at Bethel Tabernacle with her friend Miss Etta Pinckney, who is also Luvenia's godmother. When Luvenia loses her job cleaning for Mr. and Mrs. Deets because of Florenz, Luvenia decides that she will work for herself as a hairdresser. Luvenia never goes to college, but she does succeed in life. First, Luvenia Lewis opens beauty parlors in Chicago. Subsequently, she founds her own black hair care and cosmetic company, Mahogany Beauty Products, "a nationwide beauty supply company" serving black and Latina women (296). When the hair care and cosmetics business slows down, Luvenia tries her hand at real estate and the travel services industry. It is Luvenia who brokers a lucrative deal with real estate developers who plan to build a resort on the site of the Glory Field.

Luvenia Lewis never marries, preferring instead to devote herself to her businesses. She is shrewd and proud of her personal history and her distinguished place in the Lewis family.