Russell C. Davis | |
---|---|
Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi | |
In office July 1969 – 1977 | |
Preceded by | Allen C. Thompson |
Succeeded by | Dale Danks |
Member of the
Mississippi House of Representatives from the Hinds County district | |
In office January 1960 – July 1969 | |
Succeeded by | John H. Stennis |
Personal details | |
Born | Rockville, Maryland, U.S. | August 13, 1922
Died | October 16, 1993 Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. | (aged 71)
Resting place | Jackson, MS |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Catherine Pullen (
m. 1944) |
Children | 3 |
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]
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]
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]
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