{{short description|American singer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = M. Cravath Simpson | image = M. Cravath Simpson, 1910.png | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Simpson in 1910 | birth_name = Minnie Mahala Cravat (also shown as Cravath and Cravatt) | birth_date = {{Birth date|1860|12|06}} | birth_place = Cumberland, Providence County, Rhode Island | death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|05|19|1860|12|06}} | death_place = Boston, Massachusetts | other_names = Maud Cravath Simpson, Minnie Simpson, Cravath M. Simpson | occupation = Singer, public speaker, clubwoman, podiatrist | years_active = 1891–1940 | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''M. Cravath Simpson''' (December 6, 1860 – May 19, 1945) was an African-American activist and public speaker. She began her career as a singer, then studied podiatry, but is best known for her work to uplift the black community and combat lynching. Based in Boston, Simpson spoke throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, advocating for the human rights of black citizens.
==Early life== Mary Mahala Cravat, known as Minnie, was born on December 6, 1860, in Cumberland, to Sarah B. (née Eldridge) and John A. Cravat.{{sfn|Rhode Island Births|1860}}{{sfn|Rhode Island Marriages|1882|p=579}} She was the youngest of three children, with a brother, Eldridge, and a sister, Clara. Her father, a mulatto born in Pennsylvania to a French father, was a barber who served in Company A, Regiment 11 of the Union Army's Colored Heavy Artillery Unit from August 10, 1863, to October 2, 1865.{{sfn|Military Service Records|1865|pp=2, 16}} After graduating high school in Rhode Island,{{sfn|Deutsch|2002|p=112}} Cravat married Charles Harry Simpson on October 30, 1882, in Providence{{sfn|Rhode Island Marriages|1882|p=578}} and moved to Boston. She continued her studies, training as a contralto for the next seven years.{{sfn|Deutsch|2002|p=112}}
==Career== Simpson debuted as a singer in 1891 and performed at Madison Square Garden before retiring from singing in 1895.{{sfn|Deutsch|2002|p=112}} After leaving performing, Simpson became a public speaker and studied at the Boston College of Chiropody, graduating as a chiropodist in 1911.{{sfn|Deutsch|2002|p=112}} From 1903 to 1940,{{sfn|Williams|2012|p=246}}{{sfn|''The Boston Globe''|1940|p=18}} she spoke throughout the Northeastern Seaboard and Midwest, on lynching and racial inequality.{{sfn|Dodson|1907|p=2}}{{sfn|''The Bridgeport Telegram''|1925|p=5}}{{sfn|''The Afro American''|1933|p=1}}
In addition to her career, Simpson was an active clubwoman, involved in founding organizations such as the Woman's Era Club (1892), where she was secretary for 14 years, and the Harriet Tubman House (1903).{{sfn|Deutsch|2002|p=112}}{{sfn|''The Times''|1900|p=9}} The Era Club and its founder, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, urged the formation of the National Association of Colored Women, which Simpson joined in 1896.{{sfn|''The Boston Globe''|1939|p=8}} That same year, Simpson became a member of the Northeastern Federation of Women's Clubs (1896) and chaired its anti-lynching committee.{{sfn|Deutsch|2002|p=112}} She became chair of the Federation in 1918.{{sfn|Williams|2012|p=246}}
When William Monroe Trotter formed the Negro American Political League in 1908, splitting from the NAACP over whether the association should be black-led or allow whites to lead and participate, Simpson, along with Pauline Hopkins, Rev. Matthew A. N. Shaw, and Ida B. Wells, supported the organization.{{sfn|Schneider|1997|pp=115, 118}} She was president of the Anti-Lynching Society of Afro-American Women, formed around 1911,{{sfn|Williams|2012|p=246}}{{sfn|''The Indianapolis Recorder''|1911|p=1}} and led the creation of the Massachusetts State Union of Black Women's Clubs (1914), acting as its inaugural president from 1914 to 1916 and again from 1922 to 1924.{{sfn|Deutsch|2002|p=112}}{{sfn|Leslie|2012|pp=266–267}} In these roles, she worked to protect the human rights of African Americans and ensure respect, equality, and justice.{{sfn|''The Indianapolis Recorder''|1910|p=1}}{{sfn|''The Indianapolis Recorder''|1912|p=7}}
==Death and legacy== In February 1945, Simpson's apartment building caught fire, and she was hospitalized for shock.{{sfn|''The Boston Globe''|1945a|p=8}} She died three months later on May 19, 1945, in Boston.{{sfn|''The Boston Globe''|1945b|p=8}} In 1968, she was listed by ''The Boston Globe'' as one of the "Black Brahmins" of Boston, "a remarkable lot, [who] though not revolutionaries themselves, they tilled the ground and prepared the way" for the Civil Rights Movement.{{sfn|''The Boston Globe''|1968|p=361}}
== References == ===Citations=== {{Reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin|30em}} *{{cite book |last=Deutsch |first=Sarah |title=Women and the City: Gender, Space, and Power in Boston, 1870–1940 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZG3nCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-19-515864-9}} *{{cite news |last1=Dodson |first1=Nathaniel B. |title=Business Women's Club |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28653940/the_new_york_age/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Age |date=December 12, 1907 |location=New York, New York |page=2 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite book |last=Leslie |first=LaVonne |title=The History of the National Association of Colored Women'S Clubs, Inc.: A Legacy of Service |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PENu3w8PGMC&pg=PT266 |date=2012 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |location=Bloomington, Indiana |isbn=978-1-4797-2265-5}} *{{cite book |last=Schneider |first=Mark R. |title=Boston confronts Jim Crow, 1890-1920 |url=https://archive.org/details/bostonconfrontsj00schn/page/118?q=%22Cravath+Simpson%22?q=%22Cravath+Simpson%22 |date=1997 |publisher=Northeastern University Press |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=1-55553-296-9}} *{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Kidada E. |title=They Left Great Marks on Me: African American Testimonies of Racial Violence from Emancipation to World War I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY_tCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA246 |date=2012 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-8147-9537-8}} *{{cite web |ref={{harvid|U. S. Census|1880}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=1880 U. S. Census, Providence, Rhode Island |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBL-L2Z?i=7&cc=1417683 |website=FamilySearch |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |access-date=February 24, 2019 |location=Washington, D. C. |page=8 |date=June 4, 1880 |id=NARA microfilm series T9, Roll 1213, lines 44–48}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Indianapolis Recorder''|1912}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Anti-Lynching Society Wields Wide Influence |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/politics-clipping-may-04-1912-1058710/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Indianapolis Recorder |date=May 4, 1912 |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |page=7 |via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Boston Globe''|1939}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title='Back to Cradle' Meeting Held by Colored Women |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28813311/the_boston_globe/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=July 24, 1939 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=8 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite web |ref={{harvid|Military Service Records|1865}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops, 1861 – 1866: John A. Cravat/Cravatt |url=https://www.fold3.com/image/267457805 |website=Fold 3 |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |access-date=February 24, 2019 |location=Washington, D. C. |pages=1–17 |date=1865 |id=NARA microfilm series M1818, Roll 0193}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Boston Globe''|1940}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Groups Form State Peace Council at Meeting Here |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28810766/the_boston_globe/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=June 24, 1940 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=18 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Indianapolis Recorder''|1911}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Harriet Beecher Stowe Centenary Celebration |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-jul-01-1911-1058688/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Indianapolis Recorder |date=July 1, 1911 |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |page=1 |via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Boston Globe''|1945a}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Invalid, 84, Saved as Firemen Quell South End Blaze |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28815479/the_boston_globe/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 10, 1945 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=8 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Afro American''|1933}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Liberals Here Saturday for Lynch Tribunal (pt 1) |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-nov-18-1933-1058695/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Afro American |date=November 18, 1933 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |page=1 |via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}} and {{cite news |title=Liberals Here Saturday for Lynch Tribunal (pt 2) |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-nov-18-1933-1058699/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Afro American |date=November 18, 1933 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |page=2 |via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Bridgeport Telegram''|1925}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Negro Convention Hears Discourse on Lynching |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/politics-clipping-aug-07-1925-1058713/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Bridgeport Telegram |date=August 7, 1925 |location=Bridgeport, Connecticut |page=5 |via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite web |ref={{harvid|Rhode Island Births|1860}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600–1914: Mary Mahala Cravat |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZB8-GBC |website=FamilySearch |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=February 24, 2019 |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |page=278 |date=December 6, 1860 |id=FHL microfilm #1822414}} *{{cite web |ref={{harvid|Rhode Island Marriages|1882}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Rhode Island, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1630–1945 (Marriages): Charles Henry Simpson/Minnie Mahala Cravatt |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DTX7-9DY?i=577&cc=2146229 |website=FamilySearch |publisher=Rhode Island State Archives |access-date=February 24, 2019 |location=Providence, Rhode Island |pages=578–579 |date=October 31, 1882 |id=FHL microfilm #2027972}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Boston Globe''|1945b}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Simpson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28698422/simpson_the_boston_globe_boston/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=May 22, 1945 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=8 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Times''|1900}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Color Line in the Federation of Women's Clubs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10928604/the_times/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Times |date=June 8, 1900 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |page=9 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Boston Globe''|1968}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Old Days |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28816303/the_old_days_the_boston_globe/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=April 21, 1968 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=361 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} *{{cite news |ref={{harvid|''The Indianapolis Recorder''|1910}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Women Resent Vile Epithet |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-oct-08-1910-1058691/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Indianapolis Recorder |date=October 8, 1910 |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |page=1 |via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}} {{refend}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, M. Cravath}} Category:1860 births Category:1945 deaths Category:People from Cumberland, Rhode Island Category:19th-century African-American women singers Category:19th-century American women singers Category:American podiatrists Category:American civil rights activists Category:African-American women activists Category:African-American civil rights activists Category:Clubwomen Category:American people of French descent Category:American women civil rights activists Category:20th-century African-American women Category:20th-century African-American musicians