Mercedes Godoy
Mercedes Godoy, in the frontispiece of her memoir, When I Was a Girl in Mexico (1919).
BornMarch 16, 1890
Mexico City
NationalityMexican
Occupation(s)Writer, socialite

Mercedes Godoy (March 16, 1890 – after 1932[1]) was a Mexican socialite in the United States, and author of When I Was a Girl in Mexico (1919).

Early life

Mercedes Godoy, standing LCCN2014680657

Mercedes Godoy was born in Mexico City, the daughter of José Francisco Godoy (1851–1930) and Adela Perrin de Godoy.[2][3] Her father was a Mexican-born United States citizen,[4] a writer, translator, and diplomat who served in Cuba, Guatemala, and the United States.[5][6] Her grandfather, José Antonio Godoy, was Mexican consul in San Francisco.[7]

Career

Godoy was a debutante in the 1905–1906 social season in Washington, D.C.,[8] while her father was the Mexican consul in that city.[9][10][11] She was described as resembling Alice Roosevelt Longworth.[12][13] She was a delegation aide to the Women's Auxiliary Committee, at the Second Pan-American Scientific Conference in 1915.[14][15]

Godoy was a trained singer. In 1915, she sang at a musical evening given by the Musical Harmony Club at the Colonial School for Girls.[16] In 1916, she became vice-president of the Harmony Improvement Society.[17] In 1917, she was on the committee for a Red Cross benefit dance at the Cairo hotel.[18] In 1918, she appeared in a one-act play in Spanish, at a benefit for earthquake relief in Guatemala.[19]

In 1919 Godoy published a memoir of her childhood games, holidays, foods, and other details, When I Was a Girl in Mexico.[20] "This book will be a revelation to those American children who imagine that Mexican is a synonym for bandits," predicted one reviewer.[21] It was part of the "Children of Other Lands" series about childhoods in different cultures, including Hólmfríður Árnadóttir's When I Was a Girl in Iceland, Cornelia De Groot's When I Was a Girl in Holland, Mousa J. Kaleel's When I Was a Boy in Palestine, and Yan Phou Lee's When I Was a Boy in China.[22]

Personal life

Godoy lived in Washington, Havana, and New York as a young woman, with her parents and her siblings.[23] She was living in Mexico City when her mother died in 1923.[24]

References

  1. Godoy, Mercedes (1933-04-23). "Mexican Writers on Mexico's Past; Mexican Letter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  2. "Godoys Are Returning to Capital Society Set". Greensboro Daily News. 1907-01-20. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Godoys Return to City for the Winter Season". Washington Times. September 27, 1908. p. 5. Retrieved May 1, 2021 via NewspaperArchive.com.
  4. "Untitled brief item". The San Francisco Examiner. 1873-04-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  5. "José F. Godoy - A Rediscovered Mexican American Writer". Downtown Brown Books. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  6. "Jose F. Godoy Dead". The Lincoln Star. 1930-07-30. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Death of the Mexican Consul". The San Francisco Examiner. 1869-09-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Miss Mercedes Godoy" Washington Times (May 17, 1914): 12. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  9. "Affairs at Washington" National Magazine (February 1907): 405.
  10. "Mexican Beauty Meets Society". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1906-01-07. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Godoy to be Counselor". The Washington Post. 1907-01-12. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Senorita Godoy" Indianapolis Star (January 24, 1906): 9. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  13. "'Princess Alice's' Double". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1907-08-23. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-01-01 via Newspapers.com.
  14. Report on the Women's Auxiliary Conference: Held in the City of Washington (U. S. Government Printing Office 1916): 68.
  15. "Gala Scene at Pan American Reception" Washington Post (January 2, 1916): 5. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  16. "Musical Mention". Evening Star. 1915-05-09. p. 73. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Among the Clubs". Evening Star. 1916-05-28. p. 67. Retrieved 2020-01-01 via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Cairo Unit to Give Dance". Evening Star. April 29, 1917. p. 65. Retrieved May 1, 2021 via NewspaperArchive.com.
  19. "For Relief of Victims of Guatemala Disaster". Evening Star. 1918-04-28. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  20. Mercedes Godoy, When I Was a Girl in Mexico (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 1919).
  21. "Books and Reviews" Ungraded (January 1920): 94.
  22. Hólmfríður Árnadóttir, When I Was a Girl in Iceland (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard 1919).
  23. "Society item". The Washington Post. 1917-07-27. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-05-01 via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Senora de Godoy Dead". Evening Star. December 23, 1923. p. 17. Retrieved May 1, 2021 via NewspaperArchive.com.
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