#Gertrude Crotty Davenport

[puutterings]

seclusive and inclined

Figure 61. —I-1, sociable and jovial, but worried and grew depressed; at 69 committed suicide by drowning. II-1. 5, girls, were sociable and well liked. II-2, a fussy, puttering; old lady; irritable and disagreeable. II-3, sociable, cheerful, and even-tempered. II-4, seclusive and inclined to worry, but even-tempered and well liked. II-5, seclusive, irritable, and peevish; at 19 was noisy and excited, later depressed; at hospital 3 times for mania and depression. III-1, stubborn, opinionated; spent nights in carousals and debaucheries; became irritable and threatening; had epileptic fits, then periods of restlessness and depression.

ex “Pedigree Charts,” in Charles B. Davenport, The Feebly Inhibited : Nomadism, or the wandering impulse, with special reference to hereditity : Inheritance of Temperament. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication No. 236; Paper No. 24 of the Station for Experimental Evolution ad Cold Spring Harbor, New York (1915) : 155 : link (Harvard copy, one of several available via hathitrust)

—

Charles Benedict Davenport (1866-1944), “biologist and eugenicist” wikipedia

see also

Gertrude Crotty Davenport (1866-1946), zoologist wikipedia and “White Feminism and Eugenics: The Case of Gertrude Davenport,” at Lady Science (2017) : link

and their daughter Millia Davenport (1895-1992), costumer, theater designer, scholar, author of The Book of Costume (1948) : link (borrowable at archive.org) wikipedia  

[icecreamwithjackdaniels]

Illustration of a purple grackle by Louis Agassiz Fuertes reproduced in the book Introduction to zoology; a guide to the study of animals, for the use of secondary schools (1900) by Charles Benedict Davenport and Gertrude Anna Crotty Davenport.

[rocklandhistoryblog]

#ICYMI The new episode of Crossroads of Rockland History is now available for streaming. Listen at the link below or on all major podcast platforms!

____________________________

Episode originally aired on Monday, June 20, 2022, at 9:30am, on WRCR 1700AM

We turned our attention to the life and legacy of Millia Davenport. David Bisaha, Assistant Professor of Theater at SUNY Binghamton joined host Clare Sheridan to discuss this remarkable and trailblazing woman who lived most of her life in Rockland County. Among her many contributions include writing the definitive book of theatrical costume history, The Book of Costume. Published in 1948, it remains the gold standard. (Royalties from the book were donated to the New City Library.)

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 31, 1895, to Charles B. and Gertrude Crotty Davenport, Millia Davenport lived in New City for more than 70 years. Her father and mother were biology teachers at Harvard and Radcliffe, respectively. They were genetic researchers and helped establish the Station for Experimental Evolution of the Carnegie Institute of Washington in Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

After attending Barnard and Parsons, Millia Davenport created artwork for and edited The Quill, a literary magazine. Later, she became one of the first female scenic design painters in America. She worked as a costume designer for a number of Broadway theater companies, including Maxwell Anderson's Playwrights Company and Orson Welles's Mercury Theater.

In 1981, she received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the Parsons School of Design in Manhattan the same year that she received the highest honor given by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology for a lifetime of distinguished contribution to the performing arts. In 1991 the Costume Society of America established the Millia Davenport Publication Award recognizing excellence in costume scholarship.

Davenport died in 1992.

David Bisaha is a scholar and practitioner who studies performance design, theatrical space and architecture, and the history of theatrical creativity. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theater at SUNY Binghamton. He specializes in the history of scenic design in the United States, mostly in the first half of the twentieth century, and in the more recent history of immersive and participatory performance. His other research interests include theatre historiography, cognitive sciences and performance, directing theory, and memory studies.

Bisaha’s current book project, American Scenic Design and Freelance Professionalism, is a cultural labor history of scenic designers and designing in the United States. At Binghamton, Bisaha teaches theater and performance history, dramaturgy, and theater theory in the MA and BA programs. He is the Curator of the Theatre Collection of the Department of Theatre, and is affiliate faculty and a steering committee member of the Material and Visual Worlds Transdisciplinary Area of Excellence (TAE). The Millia Davenport papers are housed there.

***

Crossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on the third Monday of each month at 9:30 am, right after the morning show, on WRCR Radio 1700 AM and www.WRCR.com. Join host Clare Sheridan as we explore, celebrate, and learn about our local history, with different topics and guest speakers every month. We are pleased to announce that we have begun loading our archived podcasts to all major Podcast platforms.

The Historical Society of Rockland County is a nonprofit educational institution and principal repository for original documents and artifacts relating to Rockland County. Its headquarters are a four-acre site featuring a history museum and the 1832 Jacob Blauvelt House in New City, New York.

www.RocklandHistory.org