The Davenports(100)

Helen smirked despite her watery eyes, and John asked, “What’s in Philadelphia?”

Before Olivia could answer, Helen jumped in, eyes bright and a little breathless as she relayed what she’d been up to the past couple of months. Her sister painted her as an awe-inspiring activist, ready to take on any challenge. It reminded her of Washington DeWight and the way other people, herself included, spoke of him. Fresh tears stung her eyes and Helen’s voice trailed off. “Can’t you see she loves him, John? We have to help her.”

His brows furrowed. “What about you and Mr. Lawrence?”

Olivia’s eyes darted to Helen, whose face blanked at the mention of the British bachelor.

Helen placed her head on the table. John looked at Olivia with a question in his eyes.

“It’s a bit more complicated,” said Olivia. “Mama and Daddy think he’s about to propose to me.” She turned to her sister. “He was only trying to help, buying me time. Now we’re afraid they’ll see him as opportunistic.”

“He lied,” Helen said.

“I did too.” Olivia squeezed her arm, hoping it offered some comfort.

John leaned back in his chair with his fingers laced behind his shaking head. “Well, aren’t we three peas in a pod?”

They were quite unlucky in love, Olivia thought. And for some odd reason, she started laughing. The sound began deep in her belly and rose until her shoulders shook.

“I think she’s lost it,” John said, his deeper laugh joining hers.

Soon, Helen lifted her head. Though there was a watery glint to her eyes, she smiled. Then giggled. Then cackled.

Olivia wiped under her eyes. Her feelings for Washington DeWight hadn’t changed, but the sudden surge of mirth chased away some of the sorrow. “What do we do now?” she asked.

John shrugged. “Let’s go for a ride. There’s a newly repaired Ford in the garage, thanks to someone I know.”

Helen brightened. “Can I drive?”





A NOTE TO YOU FROM THE AUTHOR:




The Davenports is inspired by a forgotten history—by the instances of Black success across Midwestern U.S. cities like Chicago during the early 1900s, places then as full of progress and possibility for Black people as they were inequity and segregation. It’s inspired by the story of the C.R. Patterson & Sons carriage company, founded by a proud patriarch who escaped enslavement to become a wealthy and respected entrepreneur.

Charles Richard Patterson was born into slavery in Virginia in 1833. It’s unclear how or when he was able to relocate to Greenfield, Ohio, but we know he found early success as a blacksmith in a carriage company. In 1873, he partnered with J. P. Loew to open a carriage manufacturing business, building and selling no fewer than twenty-eight types of horse-drawn carriages and buggies, some of them as luxurious as those depicted in The Davenports.

Twenty years later, he was wealthy enough to buy out his partner and rename the company C. R. Patterson & Sons. When his son Frederick Patterson took over, cars were newly on the rise, and the business was converted to an automobile manufacturer. Unfortunately, after three generations of wealth and success, C. R. Patterson & Sons closed under the pressures of industrialization.

I wondered about C. R. Patterson’s family—about his daughters especially. Few articles made mention of his them, and fewer still shared their names: Dorothea (Dollie), Mary, and Kate. I wondered, what was life like for women in their position? I wanted The Davenports to hold up examples of representation I wish I’d had as a teen, to focus on young Black women discovering the courage to pursue their dreams—and loves—at a time when Jim Crow, fear, and distrust threatened both.

The four young women in The Davenports are a work of fiction. But their dreams, fears, and ambitions are real. They are determined and passionate as they try to balance the expectations of their circumstances with love and happiness found in surprising, and not always approved of, places. (And really, who doesn’t adore a grand estate, a glamorous ball, and a juicy romance or four?)

In my research for this novel, I found the Patterson family’s success to be one of many. Following the Reconstruction in the South, Black Americans, both free-born and formerly enslaved, carved their own paths into a society once barred to them. They became lawyers, doctors, and elected officials. Some, like Madam C. J. Walker, built empires large enough to become household names in their time. Her tenacity and resourcefulness provided the foundation for the character of Amy-Rose and her entrepreneurial aspirations.

After the Civil War, Chicago, in particular, became a hub of African American culture and business, which is why I selected it for the setting of this story. At the turn of the twentieth century, Chicago was growing, and its demographics were changing. In 1910, several Chicago newspapers claimed the corner of State and Madison Streets, known as the “Great Central Market,” to be the busiest corner in the world. The city became a popular tourist destination, as Americans and Europeans alike flocked there for its lively night life, beaches, and beautiful lake.

What would later be called The Great Migration—the influx of newly freed people to cities like Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angles, Detroit, and Philadelphia—resulted in predominately African American neighborhoods where Black-owned businesses and art could flourish. For the purposes of this story, the effects of this mass exodus were moved up a decade to aid Olivia’s realization of her own privilege and foreshadow the oppression that would spark the Civil Rights Movement.