Russell C. Davis
c. 1960
Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi
In office
July 1969  1977
Preceded byAllen C. Thompson
Succeeded byDale Danks
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
from the Hinds County district
In office
January 1960  July 1969
Succeeded byJohn H. Stennis
Personal details
Born(1922-08-13)August 13, 1922
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
DiedOctober 16, 1993(1993-10-16) (aged 71)
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Resting placeJackson, MS
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Catherine Pullen
(m. 1944)
Children3

Russell Carlos Davis (August 13, 1922 – October 16, 1993)[1][2] was an American politician and the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, from 1969 to 1977.[3][4] He was a Democrat.[5]

Early life

Russell Carlos Davis was born on August 13, 1922, in Rockville, Maryland, to Roy E. Davis (1890–1937), a landscaper.[4][6][7][8] Davis had one sister, who was named Mara Maude.[8][6] Russell Davis attended and graduated from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland.[9] He started attending the University of Maryland at the age of 16, but his college career was cut short by World War II.[10] During World War II, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1944. He was a lieutenant by the time he married Catherine Pullen while there, on June 14, 1944.[11][5][12][13] He worked in the insurance agency of his father-in-law, William H. Pullen.[5]

Political career

He was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1959,[5] representing Hinds County. He ran three times: first term unopposed, second opposed, and third unopposed, and served from 1960 until becoming the mayor of Jackson.[5] He became the mayor of Jackson on July 7, 1969, succeeding longtime mayor Allen Thompson.[14][5] The Jackson State killings also occurred during his tenure in 1970.[15] Also during his tenure as mayor, he presented the idea for a planetarium, which started construction in 1976 and is named after him.[16] He was an early advocate of moving from the mayor-commissioner form of government to the mayor-council form.[4] Mayor-council form was initiated after 1985. He stopped being mayor in 1977.[9] In 1981, he tried running for a third term, but lost the nomination bid to Dale Danks.[11] He died of cancer on October 16, 1993.[17][4]

References

  1. "Russell C Davis in Social Security Death Index". Fold3. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  2. "Russell C. Davis (1922-1993) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  3. "Russell C. Davis - Mississippi State University Libraries". www.library.msstate.edu. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Sun, Baltimore. "* Russell C. Davis, a former mayor..." baltimoresun.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Caudill, Orley; Davis, Russell (1972). Oral history with the Honorable Russell C. Davis, mayor of the City of Jackson. Mississippi Digital Library.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. 1 2 "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X34G-6HQ  : accessed 4 March 2021), Russell C Davis in household of Roy E Davis, Rockville, Montgomery, Maryland, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 9, sheet 3A, line 2, family 29, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 876; FHL microfilm 2,340,611.
  7. "Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi on February 25, 1968 · Page 32". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "5 Sep 1937, 10 - Evening Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi on January 10, 1993 · Page 44". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  10. "Obituary for Russell C. Davis". The Northside Sun. October 21, 1993. p. 6. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  11. 1 2 "17 Oct 1993, Page 19 - Clarion-Ledger at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  12. The Eleusis of Chi Omega. Chi Omega Fraternity. 1944. p. 487.
  13. "Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi on June 18, 1944 · Page 18". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  14. Holland, Arthur J.; Cities, National League of (1972). Mayors View Manpower Reform: Collection of Articles. National League of Cities and the U. S. Conference of Mayors. p. 8.
  15. "Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library". crdl.usg.edu. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  16. "Russell C. Davis PLANETARIUM". mydomain.com/. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  17. "Former Jackson Mayor Russell Davis dies of cancer". Clarion-Ledger. October 17, 1993. p. 1. Retrieved November 2, 2020.


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