Personne

Davenport, Mildred, 1900-1990

Biography Mildred Ellen Davenport was a noted civic official and military officer with an extensive career as a dancer and dance instructor in Boston in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born in Boston on November 12, 1900. She began her dance studies at C.C. Perkins Grade School and Prince School as a teenager, and graduated from Boston Girls' High School in 1918. In the 1920s she studied at the Sargent School for Physical Culture and at Harvard, and opened her first dance school, the Davenport School of Dance. Over the next ten years she studied under Ted Shawn and taught dance in Boston. She was also progressively more involved in road show performances such as Hot Chocolates. From 1930 to 1935 she performed in a number of African-American musical productions on Broadway, including Fast and Furious, Flying Colors, and Black Birds. In 1932 she established her second dance school, the Silver Box Studio, in the South End of Boston. She became the first African American woman to perform with the Arthur Fiedler Pops unit of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at this time. During World War II, Davenport enlisted in the Army as a captain. She produced musical shows for military bases and later served as a special service officer, library officer, and advisor in the Office of Racial Affairs. In 1950, she served as an executive board member for the N.A.A.C.P. office in Boston. From 1947 to 1968 she worked for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, founded in 1944 to enforce fair employment practices. Davenport died in Boston in 1990. Chronology 1900 Born in Boston. Ca. 1914 Student at C.C. Perkins Grade School and Prince School. 1918 Graduates from Boston Girls' High School. Ca. 1920s Establishes Davenport School of Dance in Boston. 1921 Student at Sargent School for Physical Culture. 1921-1922 Physical training instructor at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. 1923 Student at Harvard Summer School. 1925-ca. 1930 Staff member with the Department of Public Welfare, Boston. Ca. 1930-1935 Performs on Broadway. 1932 Establishes Silver Box Studio in Boston. 1946-1947 U.S. Army, civilian defense instructor. 1947 U.S. Army Office of Racial Affairs, assistant special service officer, library officer, and advisor. 1950 Executive board member of N.A.A.C.P., Boston. Member of Women's Service Club and League of Women for Community Service, Boston. 1947-1968 Staff member with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. 1973 Receives Sojourner Truth Award of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Boston and Vicinity Club. 1990 Dies in Boston.