Hilda Andrea Davis
{{short description|American educator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hilda Andrea Davis
| image = HildaAndreaDavis1925.png
| alt = A young Black woman, her hair parted and dressed back to the nape
| caption = Hilda Andrea Davis, from a 1925 yearbook
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|5|24}}
| birth_place = Washington, D.C.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|10|6|1905|5|24}}
| death_place = Newark, Delaware
| occupation = Educator, college administrator, mental health professional
| years_active =
| known_for = Delaware Women's Hall of Fame (1986)
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Hilda Andrea Davis (May 24, 1905 – October 6, 2001) was an American educator, college administrator, and mental health professional.
Early life
Davis was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Louis Alexander Davis and Ruth G. Cooke Davis. She graduated from Dunbar High School in 1921.{{Cite news|title=Hilda Davis, Washington Native|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/10/31/obituaries/4c20e809-8476-4450-b430-882f33f17be5/|access-date=May 20, 2021}} She graduated from Howard University in 1925.[https://hustorage.wrlc.org/disk1/ybkflip/dhu.hua.ybk_1925/mobile/ The Bison] (Howard University 1925): 49. via Digital Howard She earned a master's degree in English literature at Radcliffe College in 1932, and completed doctoral studies in human development at the University of Chicago in 1953.{{Cite news|date=2001-10-18|title=Obituary for Hilda Andrea Davis, 1905-2001 (Aged 96)|pages=24|work=The News Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78023139/obituary-for-hilda-andrea-davis/|access-date=2021-05-20|via=Newspapers.com}}
At Howard, she was president of the Alpha chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.{{Cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Carroll L. L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ax6Hq6K4N4MC&dq=Hilda+Andrea+Davis&pg=PA105|title=Faithful to the Task at Hand: The Life of Lucy Diggs Slowe|last2=Pruitt-Logan|first2=Anne S.|date=2012-06-28|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-4260-0|pages=105|language=en}}
Career
Davis taught English and Latin at Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina from 1925 to 1932. She was a professor and dean of women at Shaw University in Raleigh from 1932 to 1936.{{Cite book|last1=Okazawa-Rey|first1=Margo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ni2qhq1n1d4C&dq=Hilda+Andrea+Davis&pg=PA136|title=Encyclopedia of African-American Education|last2=Jacobs|first2=Sylvia M.|date=1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-28931-6|pages=136–138|language=en}} In 1936, she became dean of women and professor of English at Talladega College in Alabama, where she stayed on the faculty until 1952.[https://library.talladega.edu/sites/default/files/1945.pdf Talladega College], Catalog (March 1945): 7. Later in life, she was on the staff at the University of Delaware, where she was associate director of the Writing Center from 1965 to 1970 and where she was the first Black woman to be a full-time faculty member,{{Cite web|last=Fleming|first=Christy|date=2016-10-14|title=Celebrating a Historic Event ~ Delaware History Museum Opens|url=https://townsquaredelaware.com/2016/10/14/celebrating-a-historic-event-delaware-history-museum-opens/|access-date=2021-05-20|website=Town Square Delaware LIVE|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520222640/https://townsquaredelaware.com/2016/10/14/celebrating-a-historic-event-delaware-history-museum-opens/|url-status=dead}} and a professor of English at Wilmington College, from 1970 to 1977.{{Cite news|last=Monty|first=Lise|date=1977-06-26|title=No rocking chair yet, please, for Hlida Davis|pages=22|work=The Morning News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78049904/no-rocking-chair-yet-please-for-hlida/|access-date=2021-05-20|via=Newspapers.com}} She was the second president of the Association of Deans of Women and Advisors to Girls in Negro Schools, and served two terms as president of the National Association of College Women. She was one of the first active Black members of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).
Beyond academic work, Davis was head of research at Governor Bacon Health Center in Delaware from 1954.{{Cite news|date=1954-05-22|title=Bacon Health Center to Get New Coordinator of Research|pages=17|work=The News Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46836189/the-news-journal/|access-date=2021-05-20|via=Newspapers.com}} She taught community courses, including "You and Your Teen-Ager".{{Cite news|date=1960-09-21|title=YMCA Adult Class is on Teen-Agers|pages=15|work=The News Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78051500/ymca-adult-class-is-on-teen-agers/|access-date=2021-05-20|via=Newspapers.com}} She worked as chief of medical records at Delaware State Hospital from 1961 to 1968, and served on the President's Commission to Study the Needs of Black Women during the Johnson administration, and the President's Commission on Elementary and Secondary School Finance during the Nixon administration.
Davis was active in many community organizations, including the YWCA and the League of Women Voters, and in church activities. She was the first woman to serve as senior warden in the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware.
Awards
Davis was inducted into the Delaware Women's Hall of Fame in 1986, and recognized with the University of Delaware Medal of Distinction in 1987. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by Trinity Washington University in 1989.
Personal life
Davis enjoyed traveling, and mentioned in a 1977 newspaper profile that she had visited all fifty United States, with further trips to the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East. In 1976. she went to Italy to study Renaissance art. She died from pneumonia in 2001, aged 96 years, in Newark, Delaware.{{Cite news|last=Chalmers|first=Mike|date=2001-10-10|title=Hilda A. Davis, educator and activist, dies at 96|pages=17|work=The News Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78049408/hilda-a-davis-educator-and-activist/|access-date=2021-05-20|via=Newspapers.com}} A women's residence operated by the YWCA of New Castle County is named in her honor.{{Cite web|title=Hilda Davis Residence (for Women)|url=https://www.shelterlistings.org/details/20358|access-date=2021-05-20|website=YWCA Delaware}}
References
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Category:Educators from Washington, D.C.
Category:Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni
Category:Howard University alumni
Category:Radcliffe College alumni
Category:University of Chicago alumni
Category:Shaw University faculty
Category:Talladega College staff
Category:University of Delaware people