Henrietta Boggs

Henrietta Boggs (Spartanburg, May 6, 1918-Montgomery, September 9, 2020) was an American and Costa Rican politician, writer, journalist and activist, wife of the former president of Costa Rica, José Figueres Ferrer, for which she served as first lady between 1948 and 1949. She actively participated in national politics during and after the Costa Rican civil war of 1948, where she would advocate for recognizing women's right to vote in the country.

After her divorce with Figueres in 1952 and moving away from Costa Rican politics, she worked for the Costa Rican delegation to the United Nations, and dedicated herself to writing different books, among them, "Casada with a legend: Don Pepe", a book that would inspire years later the creation of the documentary "First Lady of the Revolution", in which details are recounted about her life, as well as her participation in politics, and writing from which "Henrietta, the musical" is based, a spectacular Broadway-style production that tells the events of the 1940s in Costa Rica from the perspective of Boggs.

Biography

Henrietta Boggs was born in Spartanburg, on May 6, 1918. She is the daughter of Ralph Emerson Boggs and Meta Long. In 1923, her family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where her father started a construction business.

After completing high school, Boggs attended Southern College in Birmingham, where she studied English and was a reporter for the student newspaper. She later traveled throughout Latin America writing articles for her hometown newspaper, The Birmingham News, with detailed descriptions of the poverty and deprivation she witnessed.

During a summer vacation in 1940, Boggs went to visit her uncles, who had retired in Costa Rica and owned a coffee farm. There she met José Figueres Ferrer, whom she married on October 18, 1941..

On July 8, 1942, Figueres made a complaint against irregular acts and corruption of the Government in a radio speech. Before he could conclude his intervention, the security services took over the radio station and Figueres was arrested and imprisoned. Four days later, the couple went into exile in El Salvador and sought refuge in Mexico, where they participated in clandestine meetings and smuggled weapons for the brewing revolution.

In 1948 Figueres led the opposition forces in the Costa Rican Civil War, becoming the president of the Founding Board of the Second Republic in Costa Rica for 18 months (1948-1949). Figueres established a democracy and enacted economic reforms based on those instituted by Roosevelrt during the Great Depression. In this period Boggs (according to some analysis) pressured her husband to allow Costa Rican women to vote. In 1951 she divorced Figueres. and moved with her children first to Birmingham and then to New York, where she worked for the Costa Rican delegation to the United Nations while pursuing her passion for writing.

In 1956 she temporarily returned to Alabama to support the protest of the black community against the policy of racial segregation in public transportation and was one of the volunteers who transported the protesters to their jobs so that they could stop using buses during the strike. Finally, the United States Supreme Court abolished the policy of segregation on public transportation, a first victory for the civil rights movement in the United States. She returned to New York and spent time in Paris where her daughter was studying.

In 1969, Boggs returned to Alabama where she married Hugh MacGuire, a former high school classmate and prominent surgeon in Montgomery with whom she had corresponded for years. She, along with her now husband, co-founded the magazine River Region Living. She also worked on television programs and led movements in favor of civil rights, women's rights and labor demands.

In 1992, she published "Married with a legend: Don Pepe", a memoir in which she recounts her life and her participation in Costa Rican politics.

In 2016 the documentary y#34;First Lady of the Revolution" was released, inspired by the book of her memories.

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Personal life

On October 18, 1941, she married José Figueres Ferrer, who would become de facto president of Costa Rica (1948-1949). On April 20, 1943, her first son, José Martí, was born, and on February 19, 1945, her first daughter, Meta Shannon, was born, both in the city of San José. They divorced in 1952.

In 1965 she married Dr. Hugh C. MacGuire.

Death

He died at his home in Montgomery, Alabama of natural causes on September 9, 2020 at the age of 102.

Documentary

In August 2016, the documentary “First Lady of the Revolution” was released in the United States, directed by Andrea Kalin (Emmy winner) and produced by Spark Media. It was made within the framework of the Sidewalk Film Festival in Alabama, where it won the Audience Award and Henrietta Boggs was awarded the Sidewalk Spirit Award.

Henrietta, the musical

Henrietta, the musical, is a Broadway-style musical theater show produced by Teatro Espressivo premiered in September 2021 at the National Theater, which reviews the events of a momentous decade in the history of the country such as the War Civil of Costa Rica from 1948, from the perspective of Henrietta Boggs, a young woman from Alabama, United States, who arrived in the Central American country and who by force of destiny became First Lady of the Republic in 1949.

In this show, the journey of Henrietta Boggs is a celebration of the Costa Rican idiosyncrasy and a remembrance of the historical events that revolutionized the life of an entire nation.

While the world was divided in a Cold War, Henrietta witnessed leaders from the left, the right and the church sign a historic pact that would lay the foundation for the reformist spirit of the Second Republic.

This show has been presented for three seasons at the National Theater, it has been seen by nearly 20 thousand people and in August 2023 it will begin its tour in Guanacaste.

Production model

This is the first project of a new paradigm around the value of arts and culture in Costa Rica. To do this, a well-known Broadway financial model was “tropicalized” that allows support for creative initiatives by co-producers committed to investing in the orange economy and promoting culture. [1]

The staging is inspired by two successful Broadway musicals: “Hamilton” and “The Sound of Music”, productions that are an excellent example of interaction between history and entertainment.

Artists

To produce the show, some of the best artists in Costa Rica were brought together such as writers, musicians, director and performers, who have worked on the show since May 2020. Ms. Henrietta Boggs, who died in September 2020, participated in the first part of this process.

Among the artists, Denise Duncan Villalobos stands out, playwright in charge of writing the text of the show, Jaime Gamboa Goldemberg, composer of the song lyrics, Bernardo Quesada, musical composer, Luis Carlos Vásquez, stage director of this show and María Amalia Pendones, choreographic director. In addition, more than 25 interdisciplinary artists, including actors and actresses, singers and dancers, join the cast of the production.