Mercedes Godoy
Mercedes Godoy, in the frontispiece of her memoir, When I Was a Girl in Mexico (1919).
BornMarch 16, 1890
Mexico City
NationalityMexican
Occupation(s)Writer, socialite

Mercedes Godoy (March 16, 1890 – after 1932[1]) was a Mexican socialite in the United States, and author of When I Was a Girl in Mexico (1919).

Early life

Mercedes Godoy, standing LCCN2014680657

Mercedes Godoy was born in Mexico City, the daughter of José Francisco Godoy (1851–1930) and Adela Perrin de Godoy.[2][3] Her father was a Mexican-born United States citizen,[4] a writer, translator, and diplomat who served in Cuba, Guatemala, and the United States.[5][6] Her grandfather, José Antonio Godoy, was Mexican consul in San Francisco.[7]

Career

Godoy was a debutante in the 1905–1906 social season in Washington, D.C.,[8] while her father was the Mexican consul in that city.[9][10][11] She was described as resembling Alice Roosevelt Longworth.[12][13] She was a delegation aide to the Women's Auxiliary Committee, at the Second Pan-American Scientific Conference in 1915.[14][15]

Godoy was a trained singer. In 1915, she sang at a musical evening given by the Musical Harmony Club at the Colonial School for Girls.[16] In 1916, she became vice-president of the Harmony Improvement Society.[17] In 1917, she was on the committee for a Red Cross benefit dance at the Cairo hotel.[18] In 1918, she appeared in a one-act play in Spanish, at a benefit for earthquake relief in Guatemala.[19]

In 1919 Godoy published a memoir of her childhood games, holidays, foods, and other details, When I Was a Girl in Mexico.[20] "This book will be a revelation to those American children who imagine that Mexican is a synonym for bandits," predicted one reviewer.[21] It was part of the "Children of Other Lands" series about childhoods in different cultures, including Hólmfríður Árnadóttir's When I Was a Girl in Iceland, Cornelia De Groot's When I Was a Girl in Holland, Mousa J. Kaleel's When I Was a Boy in Palestine, and Yan Phou Lee's When I Was a Boy in China.[22]

Personal life

Godoy lived in Washington, Havana, and New York as a young woman, with her parents and her siblings.[23] She was living in Mexico City when her mother died in 1923.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Godoy, Mercedes (1933-04-23). "Mexican Writers on Mexico's Past; Mexican Letter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  2. ↑ "Godoys Are Returning to Capital Society Set". Greensboro Daily News. 1907-01-20. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Godoys Return to City for the Winter Season". Washington Times. September 27, 1908. p. 5. Retrieved May 1, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  4. ↑ "Untitled brief item". The San Francisco Examiner. 1873-04-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  5. ↑ "José F. Godoy - A Rediscovered Mexican American Writer". Downtown Brown Books. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  6. ↑ "Jose F. Godoy Dead". The Lincoln Star. 1930-07-30. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Death of the Mexican Consul". The San Francisco Examiner. 1869-09-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Miss Mercedes Godoy" Washington Times (May 17, 1914): 12. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  9. ↑ "Affairs at Washington" National Magazine (February 1907): 405.
  10. ↑ "Mexican Beauty Meets Society". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1906-01-07. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Godoy to be Counselor". The Washington Post. 1907-01-12. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Senorita Godoy" Indianapolis Star (January 24, 1906): 9. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  13. ↑ "'Princess Alice's' Double". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1907-08-23. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Report on the Women's Auxiliary Conference: Held in the City of Washington (U. S. Government Printing Office 1916): 68.
  15. ↑ "Gala Scene at Pan American Reception" Washington Post (January 2, 1916): 5. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  16. ↑ "Musical Mention". Evening Star. 1915-05-09. p. 73. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Among the Clubs". Evening Star. 1916-05-28. p. 67. Retrieved 2020-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Cairo Unit to Give Dance". Evening Star. April 29, 1917. p. 65. Retrieved May 1, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  19. ↑ "For Relief of Victims of Guatemala Disaster". Evening Star. 1918-04-28. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Mercedes Godoy, When I Was a Girl in Mexico (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 1919).
  21. ↑ "Books and Reviews" Ungraded (January 1920): 94.
  22. ↑ Hólmfríður Árnadóttir, When I Was a Girl in Iceland (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard 1919).
  23. ↑ "Society item". The Washington Post. 1917-07-27. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-05-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Senora de Godoy Dead". Evening Star. December 23, 1923. p. 17. Retrieved May 1, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
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