Henrietta Longstreet Boggs (6 May 1918 – 9 September 2020) was an American author, journalist, and activist. She served as First Lady of Costa Rica from 1948 to 1949 in the years immediately following the

Costa Rican Civil War The Costa Rican Civil War took place from 12 March to 24 April 1948. The conflict followed the presidential elections of 8 February 1948, in which opposition candidate Otilio Ulate defeated the ruling party's Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia. ...

. She turned 100 in May 2018.

Biography

Boggs was born in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 11th ...

. She was the daughter of Mary Esther Long and Ralph Emerson Boggs, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

elder. In 1923, her family moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, where her father started a construction business. After completing high school, Boggs attended

Birmingham–Southern College Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) was a private liberal arts college in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1856, the college was affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SA ...

, where she studied English and was a reporter for the student newspaper. While on a summer vacation, Boggs went to visit her aunt and uncle, who had retired in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. While there she met and would later marry José Figueres Ferrer. Figueres would go on to lead the opposition forces in the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War. Therein he led a successful democratic revolution against the government, abolished the army, and catapulted Boggs to the role of first lady. From that vantage point, she successfully pushed for giving Costa Rican women the right to vote. Over time, Boggs realized that marriage and life in politics were incompatible, given her independent spirit in what was still very much a patriarchal society. Boggs divorced Figueres in 1954, and she took their children to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she worked for Costa Rica's delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

while pursuing her lifelong passion of writing. Her return to Alabama in 1969 came with a second marriage to Dr. Hugh MacGuire and her co-founding of '' River Region Living'', the city magazine that she would later sell, but for which she still wrote, up to the time of her death. Boggs was born during the influenza pandemic of 1918 and died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

at her home in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

, on September 9, 2020, at the age of 102, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama.

Documentary film

Her 1992 memoir of her years in Costa Rica, ''Married to a Legend: My Life with Don Pepe'', is the subject of the documentary ''

First Lady of the Revolution ''First Lady of the Revolution'' is a 2016 feature-length documentary film about former first lady of Costa Rica Henrietta Boggs. The documentary is a Spark Media film and was directed and produced by Andrea Kalin. Synopsis While visiting an a ...

''. The film was produced by Spark Media, a documentary film company headquartered in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boggs, Henrietta 1918 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama American women centenarians People from Spartanburg, South Carolina First ladies and gentlemen of Costa Rica 20th-century Costa Rican women politicians 20th-century Costa Rican politicians Writers from Birmingham, Alabama Writers from South Carolina American emigrants to Costa Rica Costa Rican women diplomats