Lucy Barrow McIntire (July 11, 1886 – November 4, 1967), also called Miss Lucy, was an American suffragist, activist, preservationist, actor, and poet.
Early life
Lucy Barrow Davenport was born in
Athens, Georgia, on July 11, 1886, to the prominent Davenport family.
She married attorney Francis Percival McIntire; the couple moved to Francis' hometown of Savannah and had six children. The oldest, James William, was born in 1910;
Francis Jr. on July 19, 1921;
and the youngest, Pope, was born in 1924.
Social and volunteer work
While living in Savannah, McIntire co-founded local chapters of the
Junior League of Savannah and the
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...
; she was the first president of the Junior League of Savannah, and also served as president of both the
Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
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and the
Savannah Suffrage Association.
McIntire helped to establish a free lunch program within the
Chatham County School District, and she was the first woman to serve on Savannah's Metropolitan Planning Commission.
Following her work supporting presidential candidate
Woodrow Wilson, McIntire was appointed the first Georgia Committeewoman on the
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
. During the 1930s, she served as a field supervisor for the
Works Progress Administration, and after the outbreak of
World War II she worked as a service director for the
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...
and founded the
U.S.O.–Soldiers Social Service of Savannah.
McIntire was involved with the conversion of the
Isaiah Davenport House into a museum; she is Isiah Davenport's great-great-great-granddaughter. McIntire cut the ribbon at the museum's official opening ceremony on March 9, 1963.
Other organizations co-founded
* Chatham Nursing Home
* Historic Savannah Foundation (1955)
* Juvenile Protection Association
*
Savannah Country Day School
The Savannah Country Day School (SCDS, Country Day) is an independent college preparatory school founded in 1955 in Savannah, Georgia, United States. The co-educational school serves students from pre-kindergarten through to twelfth grade, and h ...
* Savannah Health Center
* Savannah Nursery School
* Savannah's Christmas Stocking
* Women's Relief Committee
Personal interests
McIntire was involved in
amateur theatre. In 1928, the Town Theatre in Savannah held a contest for the best one-act play; the winner was ''The Hero'', written by Frances Hargis, in which McIntire portrayed the widowed daughter of a Civil War veteran. Her son was played by
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...
, whom she "advised... to give songwriting and acting a try".
The production traveled to New York City to compete in the
Belasco Theatre's sixth annual tournament, performing in both the Frolic Theatre (May 11, 1928) and the old
New Amsterdam Theatre before placing second.
McIntire also helped found the
Georgia Poetry Society and won prizes for her own work.
Regarding her work with Historic Savannah Association, McIntire wrote that Savannah was "one of the most beautiful cities and unique in the United States", lamenting that "
ar after year architecturally beautiful homes and historic structures were going down".
Death and legacy
The city of Savannah named McIntire Woman of the Year in 1955. In 1958, she received the
Groves Award and the
Oglethorpe Trophy for her preservation work.
McIntire died on November 4, 1967, in Savannah, Georgia. She is buried at
Laurel Grove Cemetery
Laurel Grove Cemetery is a cemetery located in midtown Savannah, Georgia. It includes the original cemetery for whites (now known as Laurel Grove North) and a companion burial ground (called Laurel Grove South) that was reserved for slaves and fr ...
.
She was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame in 1997.
McIntire is a character in
Michael Ching's 2017 opera ''
Anna Hunter, the Spirit of Savannah'',
which premiered in Savannah; the role was originated by Legera Danielides.
Poetry
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntire, Lucy Barrow
1886 births
1967 deaths
People from Georgia (U.S. state)