Marcus Garvey built the largest Pan-African movement in history. He mobilized millions of Black people around the world in over 40 countries; specifically, the UNIA had 12 million members in 41 countries and had 1200 branches.
Marcus Garvey was able to build the Black Star Line Corporation, which purchased four ships. They made successful journeys to Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas. The ships sailed up and down the eastern seaboard. Marcus Garvey built the most successful internationally distributed Black newspaper ‘The Negro World’ with editors such as Carter G. Woodson, J.A. Rogers, and T. Thomas Fortune.
Garvey’s Negro Factories Corporation employed over 1,500 Black people. Marcus Garvey gave us the Red, Black, and Green Flag, Booker T., Washington University, Black Eagle Flying Corps, Phyllis Wheatley Hotel, Universal African Legion, Universal Motor Corp, and the Black Doll factory.
There were certain individuals who believed in Mr. Garvey and were very instrumental in the success of the UNIA international program. There were certain Black women in the UNIA who were imbued with the genetic nationalist fiber of a free and united Africa. During the time of Garvey’s African nationalist trajectory, there were certain Black women within the ranks of the UNIA who stood right beside him; one of those women was no other than Henrietta Vinton Davis.
Early years
Henrietta was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 25, 1860, to brother Mansfield Vinton and sister Mary Ann Davis. Her father was a talented and accomplished pianist. Mr. Mansfield passed away when Henrietta was very young. Her mother remarried George Alexander Hackett. Brother Hackett was one of the founders of the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Drydock Company, a very prominent Black-owned ship-building company that operated from (1855-1873).
He was a ‘Race first’ man and a respected leader in Baltimore. Henrietta remembers her stepfather breaking bread with leaders such as Henry Highland Garnett, Frederick Douglass, attorney Everett Waring, and union organizer Isaac Myers.
When her stepfather died in 1870, Henrietta and her mother moved to Washington D.C., where she completed her education to become a schoolteacher at the age of 15. Our sister Henrietta was extremely intelligent and quite mature for her age.
She would go on to teach in Maryland and Louisiana and due to her mother’s illness, eventually moved back to Washington D.C.
Henrietta Davis actually began to work in Washington’s Recorder of Deeds office three years before Frederick Douglass was appointed as Recorder. Henrietta was the first Black person to be employed at the office. During her tenure, she would be mentored and inspired by Frederick Douglass.
Standing Ovation
History teaches us that Henrietta Vinton Davis was blessed with a very diverse level of talent and skill. On April 25, 1883, Frederick Douglass, who became a lifetime friend, introduced Henrietta in her debut at Marini’s Hall. In 1884, Henrietta resigned her position as a copyist to pursue her career full-time. For the next (40) years, she performed professionally as a singer, dramatic reader, elocutionist, and Shakespearean actress. She would go on to become very prominent in the theatre world and amassed a great deal of popularity and wealth.
She performed mostly for white audiences in recital halls all around the country. She became very successful and was said to have the voice of an angel. Wherever Henrietta performed, it was always standing room only and a huge standing ovation after her performances.
By 1893, she established her own entertainment company, which produced plays about Dessalines and the Haitian Revolution and the dramatization of certain novels.
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Khabyr Hadas is a Pan-African Educator, Garveyite, and author of several books on Black History – khabyrhadas@gmail.com /@khabyhadas
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