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Lillian Smith Davenport

Lillian Smith was born on Dec. 8, 1894, in La Crosse, WI. Her grandmother, Mrs. Clara Johnson, was born into slavery and freed after the Civil War. Lillian was the child of Joseph and Emma Smith and had a sister Amy, and two brothers, Robert and Richard (1887-1908). Lillian's father passed when she was a child and her mother and grandmother were housekeepers and caterers. Lillian grew up in La Crosse and graduated from La Crosse High School in 1913 (now Central High School). She graduated from the La Crosse Normal School in 1917 (now theUniversity of Wisconsin-La Crosse) where she was very active in music performance including a pageant attended by over 1000 people. Lillian began a vaudeville career in the 1920s which included the Negro Vaudeville Circuit and Bowman’s Cotton Blossoms. She was based in Chicago but traveled heavily. She was a musical director and conductor and it was said she played nearly every instrument in the orchestra. The Chicago Defender promoted her career. Her piano and vocal skills were noted in Billboard Magazine. Not only was she a performer, but she also was an activist. While visiting her mother in 1941, she noticed many La Crosse businesses — including bars and restaurants — had Jim Crow signs posted. She notified Wisconsin’s NAACP, which led to the removal of the signs. Later in her life, Lillian taught music at a public school in Chicago. Lillian's first husband was Jed Davenport who was also a well-known musician. Together they had a comedy and music act entitled "Davenport & Davenport." She was known to have at least two additional marriages and no known children. Lillian died in Chicago on Sept. 28, 1964, and she was buried in La Crosse alongside her family at Oak Grove Cemetery.

The La Crosse County Historical Society's Enduring Family's Project produced a 15 minute video on the life of Lillian Smith Davenport as part of their series associated with the local history of African-American settlers of La Crosse, WI.