Plaque on the former residence of Henrietta Vinton Davis
Plaque mounted on former residence of Henrietta Vinton Davis
Category Archives: D.C.
Cultural Tourism DC immortalizes Henrietta Vinton Davis with a plaque on her former residence
Cultural Tourism DC announced that it will unveil a plaque at the former residence of the Honorable Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis on May 8, 2010 at 2pm.
Miss Davis’ residence has been a part of Cultural Tourism DC’s African American Heritage Trail for nearly a decade. The recognition comes on the heels of a “Livication” program honoring Miss Davis at Washington, DC’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library held on Sunday March 14, 2010. The program was a collaborative effort between the Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation and the Martin Luther King, Jr, Memorial Library. The event was the kickoff for an exhibit recognizing Miss Davis’ significance as an elocutionist, dramatic reader and Shakespearean actor.
Her career marked a turning point in the history of Africans in America. She earned a living as a performing artist at a time when there were few with the training and skills to perform with her.
It is significant to note her home is walking distance to the newly christened Atlas Performing Arts Centre on H street. Additionally, the African Continuum Theatre is resident of the Atlas.
A Shero’s Journey: The Livication of Henrietta Vinton Davis
Women’s History Month exhibit honors Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis
Below are a few photos of the exhibit reviewing the life of Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC.
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- A visitor to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library reads the biography of Henrietta Vinton Davis with the exhibit.
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- Photograph of the women’s history month exhibit honoring Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC
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- Banner in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library announcing the exhibit on the life of Lady henrietta Vinton Davis
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- Biographical article on display with the Women’s History Month exhibit honoring Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis in Washington, DC at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library
A Shero’s Journey: The Livication of Henrietta Vinton Davis
On Sunday March 14, 2010 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm a Livication program will be conducted at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library honoring Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis.
Recorded Cases of Black Female Lynching Victims 1886-1957: More on Black Women Who Were Lynched
The lynching of Laura Nelson
After seeing the connection between Henrietta Vinton Davis and Black Women who was lynched (they have no markers on their graves) posted Dr. Daniel Meaders’ pamphlet on Black Women Who Were Lynched in America. Reading that caused me to wonder if more women were lynched than Dr. Meaders found.
That led to the revelation of “STRANGER FRUIT”: THE LYNCHING OF BLACK WOMEN THE CASES OF ROSA RICHARDSON AND MARIE SCOTT”by MARIA DELONGORIA. The information below is extracted from Appendix A: Recorded Cases of Black Female Lynching Victims 1886-1957. This list indicates approximately one hundred and fifty four women who were lynched.
m= mother d=daughter s=son f=father c=cousin w=wife h=husband #=age of victim b=brother s1=sister
* some sexually related aspect (evidence of rape, sexual assault and/or ‘relationship’)
** approximate date
|
Date
|
Name
|
Lynched with
|
County/City State
|
Allegation
|
| 1870 | ||||
| Sept | Mrs. John Simes | Henry Co KY | Republican | |
| 1872 | ||||
| Nov | Mrs. Hawkins (m) | Fayette Co KY | Republican | |
| —– Hawkins (d) | Fayette Co KY | Republican | ||
| 1876 | ||||
| May | Mrs. Ben French | Warsaw KY | murder | |
| 1878 | ||||
| 4 Nov | Maria Smith | Hernando MS | murder | |
| 1880 | ||||
| 29 July | Milly Thompson | Clayton GA | ||
| 6 Dec | Julia Brandt (15) | Joe BarnesVance Brandt | Charleston SC | theft/murder |
| 1881 | ||||
| *4 Sept | Ann (Eliza) Cowan (35) | Newberry SC | arson | |
| 1885 | ||||
| 29 Sept | Harriet Finch | Jerry FinchJohn PattishalLee Tyson | Chatham Co NC | murder |
| 1886 | ||||
| Sept | —– | Cummins Pulaski KY | ||
| 25 July | Mary Hollenbeck | Tattnall GA | murder | |
| 18 Aug | Eliza Wood | Madison TN | murder | |
| 1887 | ||||
| 28 April | Gracy Blanton | W. Carroll LA | theft | |
| 1891 | ||||
| 15 April | Roxie Elliott | Centerville AL | ||
| 9 May | Mrs. Lee | Lowndes MS | son accused of murder | |
| 1 Aug | Eliza Lowe | Henry AL | arson | |
| Ella Williams | Henry AL | arson | ||
| 28 Sept | Louise Stevenson | Grant White | Hollandale MS | murder |
| 1892 | ||||
| 3 Feb | Mrs. Martin | Sumner Co TN | son accused of arson | |
| 10 Feb | Mrs. Brisco(w) | AK | race prejudice | |
| 10 Feb | Jessie Dillingham | Smokeyville TX | train wrecking | |
| 11 March | Ella (15) | Rayville LA | attempted murder/poisoning | |
| 2 Nov | Mrs. Hastings(m) | son (16) | Jonesville LA | husband accused |
| Hastings(d,14) | Jonesville LA | father accused of murder | ||
| 21 Dec | Cora | Guthrie,Indian Territory | ||
| 1893 | ||||
| 19 March | Jessie Jones | Jellico TN | murder | |
| 18 July | Meredith Lewis | Roseland LA | murder | |
| 15 Sept | Emma Fair | Paul HillPaul ArcherWilliam Archer | Carrolton AL | arson |
| 16 Sept | Louisa Carter (Lou)(m) | Jackson MS | poisoning a well | |
| Mahala Jackson (d) | Jackson MS | poisoning a well | ||
| 1893 | ||||
| Nov | Mrs. Phil Evens (m) | Bardstown KY | ||
| Evans (d) | Bardstown KY | |||
| Evans (d) | Bardstown KY | |||
| 4 Nov | Mary (Eliza) Motlow | Lynchburg VA | arson | |
| 9 Nov | Rilla Weaver | Clarendon AK | ||
| 1894 | ||||
| 6 March | unknown Negro woman | Pulaski AK | ||
| 16 July | Marion Howard | Scottsville KY | ||
| 24 July | Negro woman | Simpson Co MS | race prejudice | |
| 1895 | ||||
| 20 March | Harriet Tally | Petersburg TN | arson | |
| 21 April | Mary Deane | Greenville AL | murder | |
| Alice Green | Greenville AL | murder | ||
| Martha Green | Greenville AL | murder | ||
| 1 July | Mollie Smith | Trigg County KY | ||
| 20 July | Mrs. Abe Phillips (m) | unnamed child (1)Hannah Phillips (d) | Mant TX | |
| 23 July | Negro woman | Brenham TX | ||
| 2 Aug | Mrs. James Mason (w) | James Mason (h) | Dangerfield TX | |
| *28 Aug | Negro woman | Simpson MS | miscegenation | |
| 26 Sept | Felicia Francis | New Orleans LA | ||
| 11 Oct | Catherine Matthews | Baton Rouge LA | poisoning | |
| 2 Dec | Hannah Kearse | (Walker,m)Isom K. (s) | Colleton SC | stealing a bible |
| 1896 | ||||
| *12 Jan | Charlotte Morris | Jefferson LA | miscegenation/living with white “husband” | |
| 1 Aug | Isadora Morely | Selma AL | murder | |
| 18 Nov | Mimm Collier | Steenston MS | ||
| 1897 | ||||
| 9 Feb | Negro woman | Carrolton MS | theft/arson | |
| 5 March | Otea Smith | Julietta FL | murder | |
| 12 May | Amanda Franks | Jefferson AL | murder | |
| Molly White | Jefferson AL | murder | ||
| 1898 | ||||
| 22 Feb | Dora Baker | (d,2)Frazier Baker(f) | Williamsburg SC | race prejudice |
| 9 Nov | Rose Etheridge | Phoenix SC | murder | |
| 13 Nov | Eliza Goode | Greenwood SC | murder | |
| 189923 March | Willia Boyd | Silver City MS | ||
| 1900 | ||||
| 2 March | Mrs. Jim Cross (m) | Lowndes AL | ||
| Cross (d) | Lowndes AL | |||
| 7 July | Lizzie Pool | Hickory Plains AK | race prejudice | |
| 25 July | Anna Mabry | New Orleans LA | race prejudice | |
| 28 Aug | Negro woman | Negro man | Forrest City NC | theft of peaches |
| 1901 | ||||
| 5 March | Ballie Crutchfield | Rome TN | theft | |
| 20 March | Terry Bell | Terry MS | ||
| 1 Aug | Betsey McCray (m) | Belfiield (s) | Carrolton MS | knowledge of murder |
| Ida McCray (d) | Carrolton MS | knowledge of murder | ||
| 4 Oct | Negro woman | Marshall TX | assault | |
| 1902 | ||||
| 15 Feb | Bell Duly | Fulton KY | ||
| 27 Dec | Mrs.Emma Wideman | Oliver Wideman | Troy SC | murder |
| 1903 | ||||
| Negro woman | murder of Mrs. Frank Matthews | |||
| 8 June | Negro woman | Negro men (4) | Smith County MS | murder |
| 24 June | Lamb Whittle | Concordia LA | ||
| *25 July | Jennie Steers | Beard Plantation, Shreveport LA | murder by poison | |
| 28 Oct | Jennie McCall | Hamilton FL | by mistake | |
| 1904 | ||||
| 7 Feb | Holbert (w) | Luther Holbert | Doddsville MS | burning barn |
| *14 June | Marie Thompson | Lebanon Junction KY | murder | |
| 30 August | unknown | Bates Union AK | ||
| 1906 | ||||
| 7 Nov | Meta Hicks | Mitchell GA | husband accused of murder | |
| 1907 | ||||
| 20 March | Negro woman | Stamps AK | ||
| Negro woman | Stamps AK | |||
| 21 May | Mrs. Padgett (m) | Son | Tattnall GA | son accused of rape |
| Padgett (d) | Tattnall GA | brother accused of rape | ||
| 1908 | ||||
| 3 Oct | Mrs. D. Walker (m) | Fulton KY | race hatred | |
| Walker (d) | Fulton KY | race hatred | ||
| 1909 | ||||
| 9 Feb | Robby Baskin | Houston MS | murder | |
| 30 July | Emile Antione | Grand Prairie LA | assault | |
| 1910 | ||||
| April 5 | Laura Mitchell | Lonoke AK | murder | |
| *25 Aug | Laura Porter | Monroe LA | disreputable house | |
| 1911 | ||||
| *25 May | Laura Nelson | L.D. (14)(s) | Okemah OK | murder |
| 2 Sept | Hattie Bowman | Ed Christian | Greenville FL | theft |
| 1912 | ||||
| ** | Pettigrew (d) | Ben Pettigrew (f) | Savannah TN | |
| ** | Pettigrew (d) | Savannah TN | ||
| Negro woman | Codele GA | |||
| *23 Jan | Belle Hathaway | John MooreEugene HammingDusty Cruthfield | Hamilton GA | tenants of murdered man |
| 11 Feb | Negro woman | Negro children (3) | Beaumont TX | |
| 13 Feb | Mary Jackson | George Saunders | Marshall TX | |
| 25 June | Ann Boston | Pinehurst GA | murder | |
| 1914 | ||||
| 13 Mar** | Mrs. Joe Perry (m,w) | Joe Perry (h)SonChild | Henderson NC | |
| *31 Mar | Marie Scott (17) | Muskogee OK | murder | |
| 28 May/June** | Jennie Collins | Shaw MS | aiding in escape | |
| 17 June | Paralee Collins (m) | Issac (s) | West Plains MO | |
| *12 July | Rosa Richardson (27-35) | Providence/Santee SC | murder | |
| 25 Nov | Jane Sullivan (w) | Fred Sullivan (h) | Byhalia MS | burning a barn |
| 1915 | ||||
| 15 Jan | Eula Charles | (Barber,d)Dan Barber (f) | Jasper County GA | parents accused of bootlegging |
| Ella Charles | (Barber,d)Jesse Barber(b) | Jasper County GA | parents accused of bootlegging | |
| May | Briley | Pescott AK | ||
| 17 Aug | Hope Hull | AL | ||
| *8 Dec | Cordella Stevenson | Columbus MS | ||
| 1916 | ||||
| 19 Aug | Mary Dennis | Newberry FL | aiding in escape | |
| Stella Long | Newberry FL | aiding in escape | ||
| 4 Oct** | Mary Conley | Arlington GA | complicity in murder | |
| 1917 | ||||
| 1 March | Emma Hooper | Hammond LA | murder | |
| 1918 | ||||
| 17 May | Mary Turner (pregnant) | Brooks Co GA | taught a lesson | |
| 4 June | Sarah Cabiness | unnamed children(2)Bessie Cabiness(d)Pete (s)Tenola Cabiness(d)Cute Cabiness (d) | Huntsville TX | threatening white man |
| 4 Sept | Mrs. James Eyer | Marion GA | ||
| *21 Dec | Alma House (pregnant) | Andrew Clark | Shubuta MS | murder |
| 1919 | ||||
| 5 May | unknown Negro woman | Holmes MS | race prejudice | |
| 1920 | ||||
| 2 Nov | unknown Negro woman | Ocoee FL | race prejudice | |
| 18 Nov | Minnie Ivory | Willie IvoryWill Perry | Douglass GA | murder |
| 1921 | ||||
| 9 April | Rachel Moore | Rankin MS | race prejudice | |
| 1922 | ||||
| 25 June | Mercy Hall | Oklahoma City OK | strike activity | |
| 1923 | ||||
| 5 Jan | Sarah Carrier | Rosewood FL | race prejudice | |
| Lesty Gordon | Rosewood FL | race prejudice | ||
| 29 Sept | Negro woman | Pickens MS | ||
| 31 Sept | Negro woman | Holmes MS | race prejudice | |
| 1924 | ||||
| 23 June | Penny Westmoreland | Marcus Westmoreland | Spalding GA | |
| 19 July | —– Sheldon | Meridian MS | ||
| 11 Sept | Sarah Williams | Shreveport LA | ||
| 1925 | ||||
| *25 April | Annie Lowman (m) | Aiken SC | defending her daughter | |
| 1926 | ||||
| 25 April | Lily Cobb | Birmingham AL | ||
| 25 May | Eliza Bryant | Duplin NC | success | |
| 8 Oct | Bertha Lowman(d,s1) | Demon (b) | Aiken SC | lynched after acquitted of murder |
| 11 Nov | Sally Brown | Clarence (c) | Houston TX | |
| 1928 | ||||
| 25 Dec | Negro woman (1) | Eros LA | dispute w/ whites | |
| Negro woman (2) | Eros LA | dispute w/whites | ||
| 1930 | ||||
| 12 Feb | Laura Wood | Salisbury NC | ||
| 5 July | Viola Dial (pregnant) | Narketta MS | race prejudice | |
| 6 July | Mrs. James Eyers (w) | Markeeta MS | race prejudice | |
| 10 Sept | Holly White | Pigg Lockett | Scooba MS | |
| 1931 | ||||
| May | Mrs. Wise | Frankfort VA | resisting Klan | |
| 1946 | ||||
| *25 July | Dorothy Malcolm(w) | Roger Malcolm (h) | Monroe GA | able to identify mob members |
| Mae Dorsey (w) | George Dorsey (h) | Monroe GA | able to identify mob members | |
| 1956 | ||||
| *25 March | Angenora Spencer | Hyde NC | miscegenation | |
| 1957 | ||||
| 18 Nov | Mrs. Frank Clay | Henderson NC | dispute |
*Crystal Nicole Femister has a similar chart in the Appendix of her dissertation “Ladies and Lynching”: The Gendered Discourse of Mob Violence in the New South, 1880-1930. Having used overlapping sources accounts for similarities although there are differences in categories, variations of names, locations and some of the other content.
Livication 2009
PRESS RELEASE
4/9/2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Nnamdi Azikiwe
202-483-6097
email: info@ladydavis.org
website: http://www.ladydavis.org
blog: http://henriettavintondavis.blogspot.com
AUGUST 25, 2009 is HENRIETTA VINTON DAVIS DAY
-Events to recognize cultural icon-
Washington, DC –Today the Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation announced plans to host Livication Day 2009. The Foundation has as its mission to raise awareness of the life and legacy of Shakespearean actor, elocutionist, dramatic reader and activist Henrietta Vinton Davis.
Miss Davis remained relatively unrecognized until July 1983 when an article entitled “Henrietta Vinton Davis and the Garvey Movement” by Professor William Seraille was published in the journal ‘Afro-Americans in New York Life and History’. Nearly a year later, acknowledgment of her contributions increased with the publication of the book ‘Shakespeare in Sable’ written by Professor Errol Hill of Dartmouth University. In 1994, actor Clayton LeBouef received a commission to write a play on her life entitled ‘Shero: The Livication of Henrietta Vinton Davis.’ Her home in Northeast Washington, DC has been listed on Cultural Tourism DC’s African American Heritage Trail since 1999.
In 2008, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty issued a proclamation designating August 25 ‘Henrietta Vinton Davis Day.’ The designation furthers the Foundation’s efforts to raise awareness of Miss Davis’ life and garner funds to place a marker at her grave. The decree issued in 2008 acknowledges Davis as the first African American to work at the DC Recorder of Deeds office beginning in 1878, before Frederick Douglas was appointed Recorder. The proclamation also recognizes Miss Davis’ significance as a cultural icon. She made her career debut as a Shakespearean actor, elocutionist, dramatic reader and impressionist in Washington, DC on April 25, 1883 where she was introduced by Douglas, a family friend.
The proclamation also acknowledges the success of Miss Davis as a public speaker. During 1919, a year remembered for its “Red Summer,” she joined the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League headed by Marcus Garvey.
The Livication Service will be conducted at her grave site located in National Harmony Memorial Park 7101 Sheriff Road Largo, MD (phone:301-772-0900). on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 10:00 A.M. Other activities are also in the planning stages.
About Henrietta Vinton Davis
For thirty-five years after her debut performing “Shakespearean delineations”, original plays and dramatic readings with her own performing company, and local troupes throughout the United States, South America and the Caribbean, Henrietta Vinton Davis broke new ground as a successful theatrical artisan in the United States. Her dedication to her craft gained her recognition as the first African American “woman of the stage.”
As a leader of the African Redemption Movement beginning in 1919, Davis made use of her acting skills to promote the aims and objectives of the UNIA. Her ability to “transport her listeners” to another place with her oratorical skills played a key role in both attracting members to the organization and promoting the Black Star Line Shipping Company. As such, she was elected to numerous positions including International Organizer, and Third Assistant President General of the UNIA. Additionally, as Vice President and a Director of the Black Star Line. Davis was the de facto authority aboard the Black Star Line’s flagship vessel, the S.S. Yarmouth, on its maiden voyage. The ship was laden with a cargo worth upwards of $5.000.000 destined for the Caribbean. On the ship’s return Marcus Garvey proclaimed Miss Davis “the greatest woman of the [African] race today” in a meeting at the UNIA’s Liberty Hall.
About The Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation
Initially organized to raise funds solely to place a marker at the grave of Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis in 2005, the mission of The Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation has evolved to include educating the general public on her life by producing plays, publishing books, producing documentary videos and conducting symposiums educating the general public about her life and the times in which she lived.
A scene from the play Christophe by William Edgar Easton
Proclamation for Henrietta Vinton Davis Day
Scenes from the life of a Shero – www.ladydavis.org
Livication tribute to Henrietta Vinton Davis part 1
LIVICATION TRIBUTE TO LADY HENRIETTA VINTON DAVIS
MONDAY – AUGUST 25, 2008
TRIBUTE TO
LADY HENRIETTA VINTON DAVIS
A MEMORIAL ON THE OCCASION OF LADY DAVIS’ 148TH EARTHDAY
10:00AM Livication Service at National Harmony Memorial Park 7101 Sheriff Road Largo, MD 20792
3:00PM -6:00PM Program at Martin Luther King Library room A-4
7:00PM Rally at UNIA Liberty Hall
Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis
Shakespearean Actor, Elocutionist, Dramatic Reader, UNIA International Organizer, Black Star Line Vice President
Henrietta Vinton Davis born August 25, 1860 Baltimore, Maryland, joined the ancestors on November 23, 1941 in Washington, DC.
An only child, her father, Mansfield Vinton Davis was a musician who passed away when she was very young. Her mother Mary Ann Davis married influential Baltimorean George Alexander Hackett. Hackett passed away when Davis was 9 years old. She and her mother then moved to Washington, DC.
Davis schooled in Washington until the age of 15. She became a schoolteacher in Maryland. Eventually, she went to work at the DC Recorder of Deeds in 1878 before Frederick Douglass.
Her desire for a theatrical career inspired her to study under Miss Marguerite E. Saxton. April 25, 1883 Miss Davis was introduced in her debut as an actor by Frederick Douglass. For over thirty-five years she was the premier African-American woman of the stage performing “Shakespearean Delineations”, original plays and dramatic readings throughout the USA, Caribbean and Central America.
In 1919 her career took a dramatic turn when Lady Davis joined the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League headed by Marcus Garvey. Initially chosen as International Organizer, she eventually held positions as Assistant President-General and Vice-President of the Black Star Line. On Black Star Line flagship SS Frederick Douglass’ maiden voyage, she was the ranking member of the UNIA and the Black Star Line as it carried its cargo worth upwards of $5,000,000 to Cuba.
After leaving Jamaica where she continued supporting Garvey, she returned to the USA. There she joined the UNIA, Inc. headquartered in NY city. In 1934 she was elected President-General of that group.
At the age of eighty-one she joined the ancestors. Having been divorced, without children of her own and livicating her life to bettering the condition of her people, she was buried in Harmony Cemetery in Washington, D.C. without a marker for her grave.
The Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation
Giving Campaign Donation Form
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Washington, DC 20010
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The Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization under the regulations of the Internal Revenue Service. All contributions to the Foundation are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.
Thank you for your support!
