Violet Mae Lopez Watson (September 5, 1891 – October 25, 1971) was a Jamaican-born American clubwoman and community leader. She was a co-founder with

Mary McLeod Bethune Mary McLeod Bethune (; July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was an American educator, Philanthropy, philanthropist, Humanitarianism, humanitarian, Womanism, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in ...

of the

National Council of Negro Women The National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, ...

Early life

Violet Lopez was born in

Manchester, Jamaica The Parish of Manchester () is a parish located in west-central Jamaica, in the county of Middlesex. Its capital, Mandeville, is a major business centre. Its St. Paul of the Cross Pro-Cathedral is the episcopal see of the Latin Catholic Dio ...

, the daughter of Israel Lopez and Matilda Johnson d'Aguilar.

Career

Watson was a prominent judge's wife and social hostess in Harlem, welcoming a diverse array of international leaders and cultural figures to the Watson home, including

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, and educator. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect—the acknowledged " ...

Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

and

Niels Bohr Niels Henrik David Bohr (, ; ; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and old quantum theory, quantum theory, for which he received the No ...

. "People talk of black history," recalled her daughter Barbara, "we lived it." In 1934 she was in the cast of a production of

Una Marson Una Maud Victoria Marson (6 February 1905 – 6 May 1965) was a Jamaican feminist, activist and writer, producing poems, plays and radio programmes. She travelled to London in 1932 and became the first black woman to be employed by the BBC, d ...

's '' At What a Price?'' by the Lenox Players. The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) was founded by Mary McLeod Bethune and others, in Watson's home. Watson also served on advisory boards for the New York Port Authority, the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

, the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, and the National Union League. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she was active with civil defense programs in Harlem. In 1971, the year she died, she attended an NCNW awards event hosted by the ambassador from Ghana, Ebenezer Moses Debrah, with honorees including her daughter Barbara M. Watson,

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional dist ...

Elizabeth Duncan Koontz Elizabeth Duncan Koontz (June 3, 1919 – January 6, 1989) was an American figure in education, civil rights and the women's movement. She was the first African-American president of the National Education Association and director of the United ...

, and Bennetta Bullock Washington.

Personal life

Violet Lopez married judge James S. Watson in 1917. They had four children, including ambassador Barbara M. Watson (1918–1983), aeronautical engineer Douglas Courtenay Watson (1920–1993), judge James Lopez Watson (1922–2001) and educator Grace E. Watson (1924–2015). Watson was widowed in 1952, and she died in October 1971 at her daughter's home in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, aged 80 years. A memorial service was held at the

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...

. Some of her papers are in the James S. Watson Papers, in the

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) be ...

at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT: 1891 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Jamaican women Jamaican-American history People from Manchester Parish Jamaican emigrants to the United States