Summary

At the outset of The Davenports, in Chapter 1, Olivia Elise Davenport met her friend, Ruby at Marshall Field’s department store. As she looked through the luxurious silk fabrics, a white clerk approached her and suggested that she should “pick up [her] mistress’s orders at the service desk” (4). Olivia was irritated at the woman’s transparent prejudice and began pointing to expensive gloves and silk to add to her account as she reiterated her last name, Davenport. Olivia was accustomed to being a member of the elite class and was surprised whenever someone derided her because of the color of her skin. When she arrived at the family home, her parents were entertaining a guest, Jacob Lawrence.

In Chapter 2, Helen tinkered with the damaged Ford Model T that John had brought to the garage. The youngest Davenport child felt out of...