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Russell C. Davis (politician)

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Russell C. Davis
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
Russell Carlos Davis

(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

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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

[edit]

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

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  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. ^ a b c d Sun, Baltimore (October 19, 1993). "* Russell C. Davis, a former mayor..." baltimoresun.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b "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. February 25, 1968. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "5 Sep 1937, 10 - Evening Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi on January 10, 1993 · Page 44". Newspapers.com. January 10, 1993. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "Obituary for Russell C. Davis". The Northside Sun. October 21, 1993. p. 6. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "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. June 18, 1944. 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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