Doris Ann Davis

In 1973 at the age of 37, Doris A. Davis became the second African American mayor of Compton, California after defeating the incumbent, Douglas Dollarhide, the city's first black mayor. Doris served as mayor of Compton, a Los Angeles bedroom suburb of 78,547 in 1970, from 1973 to 1977. With her election Doris became the first black woman mayor of a city of more than 50,000 residents. Doris, an only child, was born in Waukegan, Illinois to Ruby and Cornelius Collins. Her parents separated before she turned five. Doris, who graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago, received a B.A. in education from Chicago Teacher's College followed by an M.A. in educational administration from Northwestern University. While working on a doctorate at the University of Chicago she married her first husband, Shedrick Omar Davis, Jr., a dentist, in 1959. She and Dr. Davis moved to California in that same year, and she continued to work as a teacher for Los Angeles Unified School District. By 1965, the couple had two sons: John Kennedy and Shedrick. The couple divorced in 1969, the same year Doris was re-elected as city clerk. She remarried in 1970, to Earnest Preacely, the president of a management consulting firm. Doris entered politics in 1965 when she beat 28-year incumbent Clyde Harland, and became the first African American city clerk of Compton. She won re-election in 1969 with over 80 percent of the vote. During that period the city that had once briefly (1949-1950) been home to George H.W. Bush and his family, now changed dramatically. After the 1965 Watts riot in neighboring Los Angeles, Compton received an influx of Africa Americans who made the city 70% black by 1970 and much more impoverished. While Doris had won in, and served as city clerk in, a mostly white city, by the time she was elected mayor in 1973, the city was radically different. The citizens of Compton now faced high crime rates, the emergence of gangs, and high unemployment due in large part to the erosion of the area manufacturing base. Doris attempted to meet these challenges. Doris's mayoral campaign had called for an annexation program to increase tax revenues. She also urged the hiring of police to reduce the crime rate and creating job opportunities by luring employers to the city. During her first summer in office she opened the city's elementary schools for recreational programs to keep kids off the streets. While some efforts were not successful, Doris never gave up her belief in the people of the City of Compton. Nevertheless, after four years in office, she did not seek re-election. Following her time in office, Doris Davis remained politically active. She continued to belong to over two dozen organizations including the NAACP, Urban League, Links and the League of Women Voters. She remarried briefly to Rickie Dupree. In 1967, while still serving as city clerk, Doris founded the Daisy Child Development Centers, a non-profit organization providing employment opportunities, early childhood education and child care for single parents and families in and around the City of Compton. Doris served as Daisy's sole executive director until 2015 when the school closed. During its 47 years of operation Doris and her highly professional staff served generations of families at Daisy by educating thousands of local children. Doris took immense pride in the mission of service of Daisy and the accomplishments of the children, families and staff who came through the organization. Sociable in nature, after retirement, Doris enjoyed spending time with her family and friends as well as painting and attending cultural events. With an abiding faith in Christ, Doris was a long-time member of Rolling Hills Covenant Church, serving several years as an usher. A highlight of Doris' week was attending her Thursday evening bible study group. Doris Davis is survived by her sons Shedrick Omar Davis III (Rick) of Los Angeles, Western Regional Director for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. and John Kennedy Davis of Carson, Dean of Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is further survived by her beloved grandchildren, Terrance, William, Christina and Jasmine Davis. (The family expresses gratitude to BlackPast.org for their research and source material)