Gathering for the first production of "Anvil" in Charles Town, W. Va. for the West Virginia Centennial. Identified in the photograph: left Seated, Erma Ora Byrd and Robert C. Byrd; far right seated, Julia Davis Adams. "The Anvil" was a play written by Julia Davis about the John Brown Raid for the Civil War Centennial. Her grandparents were from Charles Town where Brown was tried and hanged. Her grandfather witnessed the execution.
The photograph was taken shortly after the couple were married in Baltimore. Anna Kennedy sympathized strongly with the South and John J. Davis, though voting against secession, turned "copperhead", fighting against both West Virginia Statehood and emancipation of the slaves. They had one son, John W. Davis.
Jennings Randolph and Julia Davis with Dinner Group
Description:
Identified in photograph are third from left: Jennings Randolph; fourth from left: Julia Davis; fifth from left: Charles Wood (producer of "The Anvil"); sixth from left: Mrs. Leeds Riley.
"The Circle (club) of the Writers of the Soviet Union. J and Boris Isakoff. This palace Tolstoy described in War and Peace. The Rostov Palace where Natasha had her first ball."
