Henrietta Vinton Davis

Henrietta Davis
Born
Henrietta Vinton Davis

(1860-08-25)August 25, 1860
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
DiedNovember 23, 1941(1941-11-23) (aged 81)
Washington, D.C., United States
Occupation(s)Actress, elocutionist, dramatic reader, playwright, International Organizer of the UNIA, Vice President Black Star Line
SpouseThomas T. Symmons

Henrietta Vinton Davis (August 25, 1860 – November 23, 1941) was an elocutionist, dramatist, and impersonator. In addition to being "the premier actress of all nineteenth-century black performers on the dramatic stage",[1] Davis was proclaimed by Marcus Garvey to be the "greatest woman of the Negro race today".[2][3]

Davis worked with Marcus Garvey, the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), in several capacities. From its founding in 1919 until its dissolution in the mid-1930s, she held major leadership roles in the UNIA.[4] At the first international UNIA convention in 1920, she was elected as International Organizer.[5] In 1927, after Garvey was deported to Jamaica, Davis was elected and served as President-General of the UNIA, Inc. from 1934-1940.[6]

  1. ^ Hill, Errol G., and James V. Hatch (2003). A History of African American Theatre. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN 0521624436.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Bair, Barbara. "Facts on File History Database Center". Black Women in America: Social Activism, Encyclopedia of Black Women in America. Facts On File, Inc. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  3. ^ Garvey, Marcus (1983). The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: Aug. 1919 - Aug. 1920. University of California Press. p. 311. ISBN 0520050916.
  4. ^ Duncan, Natanya. "“If Our Men Hesitate Then the Women of the Race Must Come Forward”: Henrietta Vinton Davis and the UNIA in New York." New York History, vol. 95 no. 4, 2014, p. 558-583. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/nyh.2014.0002.
  5. ^ "Davis, Henrietta Vinton (1860–1941) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. October 13, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  6. ^ Grant, Colin (2008). Negro with a hat : the rise and fall of Marcus Garvey. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195367942. OCLC 177014251.