The Henrietta Vinton Davis Memorial Foundation announced today that DC Mayor Adrian Fenty has proclaimed August 25, 2008 "Henrietta Vinton Davis Day." The designation provides new focus on efforts to place a marker at Miss Davis' grave in National Harmony Memorial Park located in Landover, Maryland. The Foundation plans to host a memorial service at the grave site that day at 10:00 A.M.

The decree acknowledges Davis as the first African American to work at the DC Recorder of Deeds office beginning in 1878, before Frederick Douglass. The proclamation also recognizes Miss Davis' significance as a cultural icon. She made her debut in her career as an actor, elocutionist, dramatic reader and impressionist in Washington, DC on April 25, 1883 where she was introduced by, Honorable Frederick Douglass, the Recorder of Deeds.   

Furthermore, the proclamation acknowledges the success of Miss Davis as a public speaker. During 1919, a year remembered for its "Red Summer," she became a leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League and its "African Redemption" movement headed by Marcus Garvey.

The Livication Tribute at the Grave of Lady Henrietta Vinton Davis will be Monday, August 25 commencing at 10:00 AM. The grave is located in National Harmony Memorial Park 7101 Sheriff Rd., Landover, MD. All interested are welcome; volunteers are still needed. For more information, please contact Clayton Leboeuf at (202) 291-1663 or Nnamdi Azikiwe at 202-483-6097 or Mwariama Kamau at 202-256-6380.

About Henrietta Vinton Davis
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Henrietta Vinton Davis was spent her early years watching the community activitism of her stepfather George Alexander Hackett. Hackett was one of the directors of the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Drydock Company in Baltimore. The company was founded as a means to employ African Americans when white caulkers struck the shipbuilding companies to force an end to the use of African American caulkers.

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." Ironically, her debut was at a facility named Marini's Hall. The building's site is currently occupied by the FBI building. A plaque on the rear wall notes the location as being where the "Sons of Temperance" was founded.

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, as well as, Vice President of the Black Star Line. On the maiden voyage of the Black Star Line's flagship vessel with a cargo worth upwards of $5.000.000 to the Caribbean, Davis was the ranking member of both the UNIA and the Black Star Line. As the ship returned to New York, Garvey proclaimed to a meeting of UNIA members that Lady Davis was "the greatest woman of the [African] race today."

Although her career has been documented in books such as "Shakespeare in Sable", "Women in American Theatre" "The Cambridge Guide to Theatre", and The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers she remains little known to this day.

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Last update : 25-08-2008 11:35

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