Olivia
Davidson
1858-1889
nationally prominent figure
Olivia Davidson, a graduate of the Framingham Normal School, was born in Mercer County, West Virginia
in 1854. Olivia and her family experienced harsh treatment in their home state of Virginia because they were
free blacks. After settling in Ohio, a free state, Olivia enrolled as a senior in the Hampton Institute where she
graduated with highest honors after one year. Her commencement speech attracted the attention of Booker
T. Washington, who was there to deliver the postgraduate address. Olivia then attended the Framingham
Normal School, graduating in 1881, again with highest honors. After graduating, she was contacted by
Washington to ask for her help in running the recently opened Tuskegee Normal School. Olivia agreed, and
arrived at Tuskegee on August 25, 1881. Olivia used her numerous connections in the Boston area to procure
funds to assist with the startup of the school. Washington wrote, “Miss Davidson’s services are inestimable,” a
sentiment he repeated on several occasions.
Booker’s first wife, Frannie N. Smith, died in 1884, and he and Olivia were married two years later on August 11,
1886. The couple had two children together, Booker Jr, and Ernest Davidson. Olivia also raised Portia, the daughter
of Booker and Frannie, as if she were her own. She died of tuberculosis of the larynx on May 9, 1889, at the age of 34.