HENRIETTA VINTON DAVIS.

The following item on Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis is from The Denver Star, Volume 26, Number 114, November 27, 1915

New York Audience Gives Noted Dramatic Reader Great Ovation

Miss Henrietta Vinton Davis was given a royal reception at Beth. Tphillah Fourth Moravian church the latter part of October, when she appeared in Shakespearean readings and electrified and charmed a large and appreciative audience by her splendid interpretation and rendering of the lines of the immortal bard. In scenes from “Macbeth,” “Richard III.,” “Romeo and Juliet/’ she follows to the letter Hamlet’s advice to the players, speaking “the speech trippingly on the tongue.” and as she proceeds we see Macbeth or mad Richard III. or the loving Romeo and Juliet as we imagine Shakespeare saw them after he had created them. It is difficult to say in which role Miss Davis excels, the humorous or the dramatic, for in response to an encore she gave in her most inimitable way a selection (humorous) from Dunbar, “Mammy’s Li’l Baby Boy/’ which completely convulsed the audience with applause. It was so perfectly natural and realistic one could almost hear •‘mammy’s Li’l baby boy” squall—a sort of black squall. When Miss Davis left the platform after this number had been given the audience lay back and roared its delight. The sexton of the church on the following day swept up nearly a dustpan full of buttons which Miss Davis’ contagious humor had burst from the garments of some of her pleased hearers. Professor Freeman of the Choral society and a number of his scholars furnished an excellent musical program.

A scene from the play Christophe by William Edgar Easton

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148th Earthday Tribute to the Honorable Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis

MONDAY – AUGUST 25, 2008

TRIBUTE TO LADY HENRIETTA VINTON DAVIS

A MEMORIAL ON THE OCCASION OF LADY DAVIS’ 148^TH EARTHDAY

10:00AM Prayer Service at National Harmony Memorial Park

1:00PM Program at Brown Memorial Church

5:00PM 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.

Proclamation for Henrietta Vinton Davis Day

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 the maiden voyage Black Star Line flagship SS Frederick Douglass, she was the ranking member of the UNIA and the Black Star Line as it carried its cargo worth upwards of $5,000,000.

Proclamation by Mayor Sheila Dixon designating August 25, 2009 “Henrietta Vinton Davis Day” in Baltimore, Maryland

After leaving Jamaica where she continued supporting Garvey, she returned to the USA in 1938. There she joined the UNIA, Inc. headquartered in NY city. After some time 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.

HTTP://henriettavintondavis.wordpress.com

The Lady Vanishes: Meet Henrietta Vinton Davis-one of the most amazing women you’ve probably never heard of | Baltimore City Paper

This article tells the journey of three men: their discovery of “The Shero of Our Story,” the lack of a marker on her grave, and the founding of the Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation to rectify that historical oversight.

The Lady Vanishes: Meet Henrietta Vinton Davis-one of the most amazing women you’ve probably never heard of | Baltimore City Paper.

Livication Marker Unveiling 2013

PRESS RELEASE

07/10/2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information:
Vaunita Goodman (202) 291-1663
email: shero1860@facebook.com
blog: https://henriettavintondavis.wordpress.com
#Livication

JULY 20, 2013 is HENRIETTA VINTON DAVIS GRAVE MARKER UNVEILING

-Events to recognize cultural icon-

Washington, DC –Today the Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation (HVDMF) announced plans to unveil a marker at the grave of its namesake in National Harmony Memorial Park. 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 Seraile 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. Her home in Northeast Washington, DC has been listed on Cultural Tourism DC’s African American Heritage Trail since 1999.

On Saturday July 20, 2013 the HVDMF starts the day off with an award presentation and celebration at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, culminating with the unveiling of a marker at Miss Davis’ grave site at National Harmony Memorial Park. Guest speakers and celebrants include:

Dr. William Seraile (Bruce Grit), Barbara Eklof (For Every Season), Kevin Grace (Friends of Joe Gans), Nnamdi Azikiwe (Vinton Davis Weblog) and Mwariama Kamau (UNIA). Producing partners for the occasion are Vaunita Goodman (MTPC) and Michon Boston (Iola’s Letter). Clayton LeBouef (Something The Lord Made, The Wire, Homicide) will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

In 2008, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty issued a proclamation designating August 25 ‘Henrietta Vinton Davis Day.’ The decree acknowledged Davis as the first African American to work at the DC Recorder of Deeds office beginning in 1878, before Frederick Douglass was appointed Recorder. She made her career debut as a Shakespearean actor, elocutionist and dramatic reader in Washington, DC on April 25, 1883 where she was introduced by Douglass, a family friend. The proclamation acknowledges the success of Miss Davis as a public speaker and cultural icon.

Celebration / Award Presentation recognizing Vera J. Katz, (Professor Emerita Howard University Theatre Arts) and others will be conducted in the A-5 Auditorium 11am-1:30-pm at the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial Library 901 G Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (202)  727-0321

Livication / Henrietta Vinton Davis Marker Unveiling will be conducted 3pm-5pm at her grave site in National Harmony Memorial Park 7101 Sheriff Road Largo, MD (301) 772-0900

Events are free and open to the public.

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. Her commitment to her craft gained her recognition as the first African American “woman of the stage.”

During 1919, a year notable for its “Red Summer,” she joined the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League headed by Marcus Garvey.

As a leader of the African Redemption Movement, 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 for 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 publishing books, producing plays, films/videos and conducting symposiums educating the general public about her life and the times in which she lived.

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A scene from the play Christophe by William Edgar Easton	Proclamation for Henrietta Vinton Davis Day

Front Page article on Henrietta Vinton Davis in the City Paper

The Lady Vanishes

Clayton LeBouef has a very clear memory of when he first encountered Henrietta Vinton Davis. It was 1992, not long before he won the role of Baltimore Police Col. George Barnfather in TV’s Homicide: Life on the Street. LeBouef was a Washington, D.C.-based actor performing in a CenterStage production of Shakespeare’s little-produced Pericles. Rehearsals were over, and opening night loomed.

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

Program for “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.

A visitor to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library reads the biography of Henrietta Vinton Davis with the exhibit.

Photograph of the women’s history month exhibit honoring Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC

Banner in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library announcing the exhibit on the life of Lady henrietta Vinton Davis

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

Henrietta Vinton Davis Honored at the Take Wing and Soar Productions’ “Spirit of Excellence Awards”

The 2008 Spirit of Excellence Awards

On Thursday May 15, 2008, Take Wing and Soar Productions honored Henrietta Vinton Davis with a special tribute during its Sprit of Excellence Awards Celebration. The event, held at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York. Also paid tribute to a number of leaders and achievers such as James Earl Jones, Pat Stevenson, Arthur French, Bryan Webster, and Earle Hyman.

Henrietta Vinton Davis Day Proclaimed in Baltimore

Designating August 25, 2009 “Henrietta Vinton Davis Day” in Baltimore

Mayor Sheila Dixon has proclaimed August 25, 2009 as “Henrietta Vinton Davis Day” in Baltimore.