Wendell Phillips Dabney (4 November 1865, in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

– 3 June 1952, in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

) was an influential

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

organizer, author, and musician as well as a newspaper editor and publisher in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Career

Dabney was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, months after the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

to former slaves John Marchall Dabney (1824–1900) and Elizabeth Foster ''(maiden;'' 1834–1907).

Formal education

Wendell Dabney was a talented musician and graduated from Richmond High School in the first integrated graduation ceremony at Richmond High School. In 1883, Dabney, was enrolled in the preparatory department at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

. While there, he was first violinist at the Oberlin Opera House and was a member of the Cademian Literary Society.

Post college career

He worked as a waiter and teacher before moving to Boston where he opened a music studio. He taught in Richmond schools from 1886 until 1892. Dabney traveled to Cincinnati in 1894 and met Nellie Foster Jackson, a widow who had two sons, in Indiana. They married in 1897 and settled in Cincinnati where he opened a music studio, became involved in politics, was city paymaster, became the first president of the local chapter of the

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

, and started the ''Ohio Enterprise'' newspaper in 1902. It eventually became ''The Union'' which he published until 1952, the year of his death. He wrote several books and pamphlets including one about leading African Americans in Cincinnati, a biography of his close friend

Maggie L. Walker Maggie Lena (née Draper Mitchell) Walker (July 15, 1864 – December 15, 1934) was a businesswoman and teacher. In 1903, Walker became both the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as ...

(the first woman to charter a bank in the U.S.), and published a collection of his newspaper writings. Walker hired Dabney to write her biography. He also composed songs. He objected to laws restricting marriage between African Americans and whites. The Dabney Building was at 420 McAllister Street.

Family

Wendell Dabney was an uncle and music teacher of ragtime pianist, songwriter, and composer

Ford Dabney Ford Thompson Dabney (15 March 1883 – 6 June 1958) was an American ragtime pianist, composer, songwriter, and acclaimed director of bands and orchestras for Broadway musical theater, revues, vaudeville, and early recordings. Additionally, for ...

(1883–1958). Wendell Dabney's father, John Marshall Dabney, was, in November 2015, posthumously honored in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, at the Quirk Hotel as a famed caterer and bartender – known, among other things, as the world's greatest

mint julep Mint julep is a mixed alcoholic drink, or cocktail, consisting primarily of bourbon, sugar, water, crushed or shaved ice, and fresh mint. As a bourbon-based cocktail, it is associated with the American South and the cuisine of the Southern Un ...

-maker. The event was attended by notable community members and one of his great-great granddaughters, Jennifer Hardy ''(née'' Jennifer Dehaven Jackson). Jennifer's mother (great-granddaughter-in-law of John Marshall Dabney),

Mary Hinkson Mary De Haven Hinkson (March 16, 1925 – November 26, 2014) was an African American dancer and choreographer known for breaking racial boundaries throughout her dance career in both modern and ballet techniques. She is best known for her work ...

(1925–2014), was an internationally celebrated modern dancer. One of Wendell Dabney's brothers, John Milton Dabney (1867–1967), had been a player in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

, including the

Cuban Giants The Cuban Giants were the first fully salaried African-American professional baseball club. The team was originally formed in 1885 at the Argyle Hotel, a summer resort in Babylon, New York. Initially an independent barnstorming team, they played ...

. Buck Spottswood, as manager, and J. Milton Dabney as team captain, reorganized, in 1895, the Manhattan Baseball Club of Richmond, Virginia. Another family member is filmmaker Richard Jackson.

Selected extant works

Music

* "De Noble Game of Craps" (©1898), words by W.P. Dabney, music by Gussie L. Davis Howley, Haviland and Company,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Rudolph Wurlitzer Company Rudolph or Rudolf may refer to: People * Rudolph (name), the given name including a list of people with the name Religious figures * Rudolf of Fulda (died 865), 9th century monk, writer and theologian * Rudolf von Habsburg-Lothringen (1788� ...

Artie Matthews Artie Matthews (November 15, 1888 – October 25, 1958) was an American songwriter, pianist, and ragtime composer. Artie Matthews was born in Braidwood, Illinois; his family moved to Springfield, Illinois in his youth. He learned to play p ...

, Dabney Publishing Company,

;

Books

; *''Dabney's Complete Method of Guitar'' *''The Wolf and the Lamb'' (1913), a pamphlet published in response to proposed legislation in Ohio to ban

miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...

; * ''Maggie L. Walker and the I.O of Saint Luke: The Woman and Her Work'' (re:

and the Independent Order of Saint Luke), Dabney Publishing Company (1920, 1927); * ''Cincinnati's Colored Citizens: Historical, Sociological and Biographical,'' Dabney Publishing Company (1926); *''Chisum's Pilgrimage, and Others'' republished from his newspaper, ''The Union,'' a collection of articles he wrote;

References

Copyrights

: ''

Catalog of Copyright Entries United States copyright registrations, renewals, and other catalog entries since 1978 are published online at the United States Copyright Office website. Entries prior to 1978 are not published in the online catalog. Copyright registrations and ren ...

,'' Part 3 – Musical Compositions, New Series (ending 1945) & Third Series (beginning 1946),

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are ...

: Original copyrights

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dabney, Wendell 1865 births 1952 deaths African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from Virginia Editors of Ohio newspapers 20th-century American newspaper founders 20th-century American newspaper editors African-American guitarists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American composers American male journalists Oberlin College alumni African-American journalists Writers from Cincinnati Writers from Richmond, Virginia Journalists from Virginia African-American composers African-American company founders American company founders African-American activists Journalists from Ohio Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from Ohio Activists from Virginia Composers of Christian music African-American Christians