Lucretia del Valle Grady

Lucretia del Valle Grady (October 18, 1892 — May 23, 1972) was a Californio political activist, suffragette, and actress. Born to Reginaldo Francisco del Valle, noted Angelino statesman, Lucretia became an important Democratic Party official, serving as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and as delegate for California to the Democratic National Conventions of 1928, 1936, 1940, and 1956.

Lucretia del Valle Grady
Born18 October 1892
Los Angeles, California
Died23 May 1972
San Mateo, California
OccupationSuffragette, activist
Spouse(s)Henry F. Grady
Parent(s)Reginaldo Francisco del Valle

Early life
Lucretia del Valle from a 1914 publication.

Lucretia Louise del Valle was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Reginaldo Francisco del Valle and Helen May White del Valle. Her father, a California state senator, owned Rancho Camulos. Her grandparents Ygnacio del Valle and Ysabel del Valle owned much of the Santa Clarita Valley.[1]

Career

Beginning in 1912,[2] Lucretia del Valle starred as Doña Josefa Yorba[3] in about 850 shows of a popular outdoor pageant at Mission San Gabriel, The Mission Play.[4] A large painting of del Valle in this role, Guy Rose's The Leading Lady (1914), hangs at the San Diego History Center, in Balboa Park.[5] Also in 1912, she appeared in The Landslide, a contemporary drama by Austin Adams, which ran in Los Angeles.[6][7]

Lucretia del Valle and her husband Ambassador Henry F. Grady, 1949.

Del Valle left acting for political work, first with her father, and then with her husband, but also in her own right.[8] Lucretia del Valle Grady was a California delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1928, 1936, 1940, and 1956. She was vice chair of the Democratic National Committee in 1937, when her husband Henry Grady became assistant Secretary of State,[9] and the couple moved to Washington D. C..[10]

In 1946, she christened the S. S. President Cleveland, a large passenger liner.[1] She was active as a diplomat's wife when Henry Grady became the first United States Ambassador to the newly independent India in 1947.[11] Henry Grady was ambassador to Greece in 1948, where Lucretia became the first woman named an honorary citizen of Athens;[12] and in 1950 the couple were in Iran, where Lucretia Grady promoted women's rights, including suffrage.[13]

Personal life and legacy

Lucretia del Valle married economist and shipping magnate Henry Francis Grady in 1917. They had four children;[14] their daughter Patricia Louise Grady married diplomat John Paton Davies, Jr. Lucretia Grady was widowed in 1957, and died in 1972, aged 79 years, in San Mateo, California, from a heart attack.[12][15]

Del Valle Avenue in Glendale, California is named for Lucretia del Valle Grady.[16] Some of her papers and photographs are in the Forster-del Valle Family Papers, at the University of California Irvine.[17]

References
  1. "Lucretia del Valle Grady Christens S.S. President Cleveland" SCVHistory.com.
  2. Kenneth H. Marcus, Musical Metropolis: Los Angeles and the Creation of a Music Culture, 1880-1940 (Springer 2004): 93. ISBN 9781403978363
  3. Chelsea K. Vaughn, "The Joining of Historical Fantasy and the Spanish Fantasy Past: The Meeting of Señora Josefa Yorba and Lucretia del Valle" Journal of San Diego History 57(4)(2011): 213-235.
  4. Clara M. Greening, "Lucretia del Valle: A Daughter of the Dons" Sunset: The Pacific Monthly (July 1914): 120-122.
  5. "'Leading Lady' Plays Key Role in our History" San Diego History Center (press release).
  6. Mila Tupper Maynard, "A Socialist Play: The Landslide" The Coming Nation (December 7, 1912): 9.
  7. "Blithe Lady Vision-Maker" Los Angeles Times (September 26, 1915): III19.
  8. Maggie Perkins, Newhall (Arcadia Publishing 2010): 78. ISBN 9780738580258
  9. Henry Francis Grady, The Memoirs of Ambassador Henry F. Grady: From the Great War to the Cold War (University of Missouri Press 2009): 10. ISBN 9780826271877
  10. Hope Ridings Miller, "Mrs. Henry F. Grady Is Dynamic, Vivacious: Wife of New Assistant Secretary of State War Born Lucretia del Valle, of Old California Family; Her Fame Is Wide Here" Washington Post (August 3, 1939): 12.
  11. "First U. S. Ambassador Arrives in India" (International News Photo caption, June 30, 1947).
  12. "Lucretia Grady, Democratic Party Aide; Twice Seconded FDR Nominations" The Washington Post, Times Herald (May 25, 1972): B6.
  13. "Lucretia del Valle Grady Promotes Women's Suffrage in Iran, 1950" (Associated Press, September 13, 1950).
  14. Alma Whitaker, "Mrs. Lucretia Grady Hailed on Visit Before Going East" Los Angeles Times (July 8, 1934): B1.
  15. "Mrs. Grady, Widow of U. S. Diplomat, Dies" Los Angeles Times (May 24, 1972): b3.
  16. Katherine Yamada, "Street Named for Actress and Member of Illustrious Family" Los Angeles Times (March 4, 2011).
  17. Manuel Escamilla, Guide to the Forster-del Valle Family Papers MS.R.048 (UCI Libraries).
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