Julia O. Henson
Born
Julia W. O'Ree

October 1852
Fredericton, New Brunswick, British North America
DiedAfter 1922
Occupation(s)Dressmaker, boarding room operator
Known forSocial justice activist

Julia O. Henson (October 1852 – after 1922) was an American social justice activist who founded organizations to support African American troops during World War II (1914–1918) and to provide opportunities for African Americans to thrive through the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She donated the building for the Harriet Tubman House in Boston in 1904.

Early life and marriage

Julia W. O'Ree, the daughter of Ann and Henry O'Ree, was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, British North America in October 1852.[1][2] She immigrated to the United States in 1883[3] and seven years later she worked as a dressmaker and lived in a boarding house in Boston.[4]

O'Ree married George D. Henson on September 12, 1894, becoming Julia O. Henson.[1][2] By 1900, they operated a rooming house with 19 other residents on Holyoke Street in Boston.[3] Her husband died on October 23, 1909, in Boston. He was buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Boston.[5]

By 1910, her husband had died and she was living alone in her mortgaged house on Arie Street. She supported herself by working as a dressmaker.[6]

Activism

Henson lived in a neighborhood near African American women leaders in social action and the arts. She lived at 25 Holyoke Street next to Susie King Taylor, an American Civil War nurse. In 1904, Henson donated her home to be used as a residence for unmarried African American women—who did not have access to college dormitories or quality roominghouses—at the request of her friend Harriet Tubman.[7][8] She was president of the Harriet Tubman House (located on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail).[8][9] Harriet Tubman stayed with Henson at the house when she visited Boston.[8]

She addressed groups, such as the topic What a Young Woman can do to make a happy home in 1908 in New York City.[9] Henson founded the African American Northeastern Federation of Women's Clubs with Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, a friend. She was co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).[7] At the outbreak of World War I, Maria L. Baldwin planned to establish the Soldier's Comfort Unit to help African American troops. Ruffin, Henson, and Baldwin founded the organization.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Henson–O'Ree". The Boston Globe. 1894-09-13. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  2. 1 2 "Julia W. O'Ree married George D. Henson", Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911, Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society
  3. 1 2 "Julia O. Henson (transcription says Julia A. Henson), Boston, Massachusetts, Ward 10", Twelfth Census of the United States, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900
  4. ↑ "Julia W. O'Ree", Boston City Directory, Boston, Massachusetts: Sampson, Murdock and Co., 1890
  5. ↑ "George D. Henson, died October 23, 1909", Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911, Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society
  6. ↑ "Julia O. Henson (transcription says Julia O. Hinson), Boston, Massachusetts, Ward 10", Thirteenth Census of the United States, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1910
  7. 1 2 3 Mitchell, Verner D.; Davis, Cynthia (2011-10-18). Literary Sisters: Dorothy West and Her Circle, A Biography of the Harlem Renaissance. Rutgers University Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-0-8135-5213-2.
  8. 1 2 3 Kaufman, Polly Welts (2006). Boston Women's Heritage Trail : seven self-guided walking tours through four centuries of Boston women's history. Boston: Boston Women's Heritage Trail. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-933212-40-1.
  9. 1 2 "Julia O. Henson". The New York Age. 1908-03-12. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
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