As a young woman she moved to Boston and took up the trade of hairdressing. During her twenty-five year residence in Massachusetts she owned salons both in Boston and Worcester and prospered as an independent businesswoman and self-styled "hair doctress." Christiana first married Desiline Carteaux, a Boston clothes dealer, probably of Carribean origin. After this union failed, she wed Canadian-born Edward Mitchell Bannister, who with her financial support, became one of America's most successful black artists. The Bannisters moved to Providence where Christiana opened another salon and became a patron of the arts. She was deeply involved in improving the lives of African-American women and founded the Home for Aged and Colored Women at 45 East Transit Street, a facility that evolved into today's Bannister Nursing Care Center on Dodge Street in Providence. Christiana Bannister's significance is that she rose above the constraints that her era placed upon women and minorities and moved with facility and effectiveness among all levels of society from runaway slaves to Providence's artistic community. She was a remarkable civic leader and humanitarian. Christiana was buried in her husband's plot in the North Burial Ground. Ironically her name does not appear on the large gravestone erected in his honor, but a bronze bust of Christiana, based upon a portrait painted by her husband, was dedicated at the State House in December, 2002.
As a young woman she moved to Boston and took up the trade of hairdressing. During her twenty-five year residence in Massachusetts she owned salons both in Boston and Worcester and prospered as an independent businesswoman and self-styled "hair doctress." Christiana first married Desiline Carteaux, a Boston clothes dealer, probably of Carribean origin. After this union failed, she wed Canadian-born Edward Mitchell Bannister, who with her financial support, became one of America's most successful black artists. The Bannisters moved to Providence where Christiana opened another salon and became a patron of the arts. She was deeply involved in improving the lives of African-American women and founded the Home for Aged and Colored Women at 45 East Transit Street, a facility that evolved into today's Bannister Nursing Care Center on Dodge Street in Providence. Christiana Bannister's significance is that she rose above the constraints that her era placed upon women and minorities and moved with facility and effectiveness among all levels of society from runaway slaves to Providence's artistic community. She was a remarkable civic leader and humanitarian. Christiana was buried in her husband's plot in the North Burial Ground. Ironically her name does not appear on the large gravestone erected in his honor, but a bronze bust of Christiana, based upon a portrait painted by her husband, was dedicated at the State House in December, 2002.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
