Hampton Man Comes to Grinnell

Collis Huntington Davis (1900-1974) was born in Hampton, Virginia in September 1900. His father worked as a plasterer and his oldest brother was already working as a hotel bellman when Collis joined the family, the sixth of eight children. Before coming to Grinnell in 1919 as the second Rosenwald Scholar, young Davis, who had graduated from Hampton Academy in 1918, had never lived outside Hampton, so the adventure of meeting the American prairie and a very white town no doubt brought many surprises. 

Collis H. Davis, 1924 Grinnell College Cyclone

When census officials came to Grinnell in 1920, Davis was living in college dormitories along with several other Blacks, including Hosea Campbell, the first Grinnell Rosenwald scholar who had arrived in 1918. Unlike Campbell, who favored history and philosophy, Davis majored in chemistry and zoology, and seems to have taken to his Grinnell classes immediately. A 1919 notice that appeared in Hampton's Southern Workman carried word that Davis was registered at Grinnell for a full load—16 hours—and "likes his work immensely" (48[1919]:671). That Davis enjoyed his studies is obvious from his academic success. A campus newspaper article from autumn 1921 included Davis among the 29 Grinnell students (out of college total of more than 600) whose grades the preceding year  qualified them as "Grinnell Scholars"— that is, they all "received at least twenty hours of A last year and none of their work was below B" (Scarlet and Black, October 1, 1921). Davis maintained this high level of success throughout his time at Grinnell as evidenced by his election to Phi Beta Kappa, the first African American to join Grinnell's PBK chapter (1925-26 Negro Yearbook, p. 300). I found little about how race influenced Davis's experience in Grinnell, but in a private email his daughter, Thulani Davis, recalled that her dad had worked as a Pullman porter during the summers while he was at Grinnell, and was "forced to sing spirituals every Friday night before being given dinner" (email February 3, 2022).

1924 Photograph of Collis Davis (front row, centre) and his six brothers
(Ancestry.com. McCammon Pautler Family Tree)

After graduation, Davis immediately returned to Virginia where he began teaching chemistry at Hampton Institute. The 1930 US census, conducted in April, reported that Davis was rooming on the Hampton campus with other men, but that September he married Willie Louise Barbour (1905-1955) in New York City. Collis and "Billie," who hailed from Kansas City, Missouri, had met in Boston when Collis took a summer class at Harvard and Billie was a student at Sargent Physical Education School. A talented woman in her own right, Billie later taught dance at Hampton, and became a very accomplished photographer.

A 1920s photo of "Billie" Barbour Davis (1905-1955)
(Ancestry.com, McCammon Pautler Family Tree)

Collis and Billie gave birth to a talented family. Georgia Louise (1932-2011) was the first African  American to attend Maine's Fryeburg Academy, and later attended Colby College and Columbia University. At various points in her life Louise, as she preferred to be called, authored newspaper columns on jazz and theater. Jennie Crosby Davis (b. 1934) also graduated from Colby College, later taking a master's degree from Hampton and an Ed. D. from Rutgers University. Collis Huntington, Jr. (b. 1942) attended the Stockbridge School in Massachusetts, then took a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin. After overseas duty with the U.S. Army, Collis, Jr. began a career in film and television, which he combined with teaching at several colleges and universities. Having developed a special interest in the Philippines as a result of Fulbright Fellowships, he settled there in 2001. Barbara Neal (later known as Thulani) was born in 1949; she graduated from the Putney School, then from Barnard. For some years she worked as a journalist in San Francisco, then moved to New York where she worked for Village Voice, all the while writing books and collaborating with other African American artists (https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/davisfamily). Clearly the Davis family was a highly educated and multi-talented group.

Undated photograph of Collis Davis, Sr. and his four children
(The Call and Post, June 4, 1992)

As his family grew, Collis, Sr. climbed the academic ladder at Hampton. Thanks to General Education Board Fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, he continued his chemistry education. The first fellowship, 1930-31, enabled him to obtain an MA from Columbia University in 1931. A second fellowship, 1939-40, allowed Davis to work toward a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, where he passed comprehensive examinations and two foreign language exams (Rockefeller Foundation, RG 10.2 [Fellowship Recorder Cards], Series GEB A-Z, Box 20 Davis-C), but circumstances conspired to prevent him from finishing his Ph.D. As Davis acknowledged in a 1939 letter to his undergraduate chemistry teacher at Grinnell, he was obliged to pursue his doctorate "in very piece-meal fashion as I now have a wife and two children to support...." Enumerating the multiple courses he taught at Hampton and the numbers of students, many of whom studied chemistry only as a sidelight to their work in agriculture, home economics or teacher education, Davis allowed that "we earn our salaries" (Alumni Letters to Chemistry Department, Pamphlet 51-51.3 C42a-51.3 C42a, Grinnell College Special Collections and Archives).

Rockefeller Foundation, RG 10.2 (Fellowship Recorder Cards), Series GEB (A-Z), Box 20,
Davis, Collis Huntington—GEB-N

At Hampton Davis served, not only as a faculty member but also at different points in his career in numerous administrative positions—Director of General Studies, Dean of Students, and Registrar (Daily Press [Newport News, VA], November 28, 1974). 

Chicago Defender, August 3, 1946

Like most other American men of that time, Davis registered for the draft when the United States entered World War II. His February 1942 draft registration card describes him as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighing 150 pounds. According to the registration official, Davis had brown eyes, black hair, and a "light" complexion. He was 41 years old, and had already taught at Hampton for almost twenty years. Later that year Collis, Jr. was born, and in 1949 the couple's fourth and last child, Barbara Neal (later Thulani), was born. Although busy, these were good years for Collis and his family. By the time Dwight Eisenhower became President, the older girls were either already in college or soon would be; Collis, Jr. was in grade school and Barbara was a toddler.

Undated photograph (1940s?) of Collis Davis, Sr.
(Ancestry.com, McCammon Pautler Family Tree)

Into this fairly tranquil life came a terrible shock: in December 1955 Billie suffered a coronary thrombosis. She was only 50 and excited about her photography which was attracting increasing attention, but within three days she was gone (Certificate of Death, Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Registration District 2270, State File No. 27080, Registered No. 251). Georgia would have already graduated from Colby, and Jennie must have been a senior there, but Barbara was only six and Collis, Jr. just thirteen. I did not find any record of how Collis dealt with his wife's death, but it could not have been easy.

Undated Photograph (ca. 1939) of Billie Davis and daughters Louise and Jennie
(Alumni Letters to Chemistry Department, Pamphlet 51-51.3 C42a-51.3 C42a, Grinnell College Special Collections and Archives)

In April 1960 Davis remarried, taking as his second wife Viola G. Palmer (1912-1991) in a ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut. Viola taught biology at Hampton, beginning in 1953, so she and Collis were colleagues in the sciences and must have known one another when Billie Davis died. Viola was twelve years younger than Collis but age difference seems insufficient to explain the brevity of this match: already in August 1961 they separated, and a year later formalized the divorce.

Abstract of 1962 Virginia Divorce Decree
(Ancestry.com; Virginia Divorce Records 1918-2014 [database on-line], Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2015)

In 1970 Davis accepted what proved to be his final position at Hampton, Administrative Assistant to the President; the following year he retired. "Students are what I enjoyed most during my 47 years as a faculty and staff member at Hampton Institute," he said. A published appreciation described him as "an alert and youthful person in thought and action," confirmed by his "youthful appearance, precise speech, and his forward look" (Chicago Defender, August 7, 1971). Confirmation of his classroom success came with winning the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award for 1969-70.

Newport News Daily Press, November 28, 1974

Sadly, retirement did not last long. In late November 1974 Davis entered Hampton Hospital, victim of a "cerebrovascular accident" that stemmed from "cerebrovascular disease." Within days he was dead. The funeral service convened November 30th in the Hampton Institute Memorial Chapel, fittingly capping Davis's half-century of service at Hampton. He was buried next to Billie in the Hampton University Cemetery.

Gravestone of Collis Huntington Davis and Louise Barbour Davis, Hampton University Cemetery
(https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14231128/louise-davis)

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Collis Davis began and ended his life at Hampton. He was a student at the Academy and he taught at the Institute (later University) for almost fifty years. He raised a family there and his remains were buried in the Hampton University Cemetery. Along the way Davis touched many lives, the influence of his intelligence and education radiating outward from the Hampton campus. He spent only four years at Grinnell, but, as his own letters confirm, they were important years and helped thrust him toward graduate education and studies at several Ivy League universities. It would be surprising if he did not encounter racial bias in central Iowa, but if he did, these ugly moments did not overwhelm the benefit that Julius Rosenwald and Grinnell College contributed to this remarkable man.