JOHN B. DAVIS:

Educator and community leader John Davis was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1921, the son of John Bradford and Edna (Maxfield) Davis; was educated in the Massachusetts public schools; received a B.A. degree from the University of New Hampshire; and received a doctoral degree from Harvard University. His educational career, beginning in 1944, included high school teaching in the Massachusetts public school system; various positions at Harvard and the University of New Hampshire; superintendent of schools in Lincoln, Massachusetts (1959-1963), Worcester, Massachusetts (1963-1966), and Minneapolis (1967-1975); president of Macalester College, St. Paul (1975-1985); and interim president of Mankato State University (1990). Davis returned to the Minneapolis Public Schools in March-July 1993 as interim superintendent following the suspension and subsequent resignation of Robert Ferrara.

Davis was active in many educational professional organizations, including the American Association of School Administrators, the New England Economic Education Council, and the New England School Development Council (executive director, 1950-1958). He also served on a number of committees within the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was a delegate to the White House Conference on Education (1955) and a member of the President's Task Force on Education (1969).

In Minneapolis Davis served on the subcommittee for education and programs of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1972); was interim director of the Children's Theatre Company (1984-1985); was president of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1990); and was interim director of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (1993-1994).

Davis married Barbara Burns of Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1943. Additional biographical information is available in the collection (personal files).

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. John B. Davis Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 14,886; 15,441; 15,593; 15,821; 16,025; 16,416;

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the audiovisual material are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.

The original audiocassettes and videocassette were disposed after the material was digitally reformatted into MOV and WAV files.

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, May 1993; Monica Manny Ralston, June and August 2001; Christopher G. Welter, October 2009

Digital audiovisual transferred from the master audiocassettes and videocassettes by the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation purposes (July, 2019).

Catalog ID number: 990017371050104294

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Personal papers include extensive correspondence files (1966-1975); newspaper articles by and about Davis (1945-2000); photographs (1970); and school papers and miscellaneous items (1947-1994).

Correspondence between Davis and his friends and colleagues in the East sheds light on the many educational groups and institutions with which he was associated, particularly Harvard University. Many letters of congratulation (1966) relate to his appointment as Minneapolis Public Schools superintendent. Letters after 1966 are concerned with invitations to many social, educational, and cultural events in Minneapolis, while continuing his contacts with colleagues in the East. Of particular interest is a folder containing correspondence, reports, and other papers generated while Davis was a consultant to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1969), and three folders of minutes and correspondence created while Davis was a member of the subcommittee on education and programs of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1972).

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There are two sets of speech files. The first set is a numbered sequence, 1-278 (1948-1975), a complete list of which, prepared by Davis himself, is included in a folder ("explanatory note") filed at the beginning of the sequence. The second set, arranged chronologically (1959-1997), does not duplicate any found in the numbered group.

Speeches delivered from 1948 through 1966 contain information on school matters in Lincoln and Worcester, Massachusetts, and were presented before many educational, civic, and religious organizations. Speeches made during the 1967-1975 period, while Davis was superintendent of the Minneapolis public schools, cover similar education related topics. They include speeches to individual school groups, the board of education, teachers' groups, commencement audiences, and local civic, business, and cultural organizations.

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The first group of files are copies of Davis's "Friday Letters" to the Minneapolis Board of Education (1968-1975), containing information on school issues and problems and routine board business. The set seems to be complete.

The major portion of the public school files are concerned with attempts to desegregate the system. Included are reports, task force papers, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, and proposals on many aspects of the problem. Of special interest are four folders (1971-1978) of legal documents, correspondence, and other papers relating to the case of Booker v. Minneapolis Special School District No. 1, a legal action brought by a group of Minneapolis citizens against the board of education urging desegregation. The United States District Court ruled in favor of the citizen group. Other notable items in this section are:

1. Three substantive reports on alternative education.

2. Miscellaneous papers and video recordings relating to the 1970 teachers' strike, including transcripts of some of Davis's telephone calls during the strike. The video recording, an interview with Davis about the strike, was originally made in 1990.

3. Two theses by Terry Schultz, University of Minnesota, 1979 and 1992, that examine Davis's executive leadership of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

4. Files documenting Davis's interim superintendency of the Minneapolis Public Schools following the 1993 suspension of Robert Ferrara.

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A few miscellaneous items that reflect Davis's involvement with institutions other than the Minneapolis Public Schools. The largest is a volume containing the compiled publications (1950-1958) of the New England School Development Council, which Davis directed during that period.

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Additional information concerning Minneapolis Public Schools desegregation, the 1970 teachers' strike, and the Southeast Alternatives experimental school project can be found in the records of the Minneapolis Public Schools in the Minnesota State Archives.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Art museums -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Children's plays -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Discrimination in education -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Education, Elementary -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Education, Higher -- Massachusetts.

Education, Higher -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Education, Secondary -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Educational leadership.

Public schools -- Massachusetts.

Public schools -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Race relations in school management -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Racism -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

School boards -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

School integration -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Segregation in education -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Strikes and lockouts -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Teachers unions -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Theatre and youth -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Universities and colleges -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge.

Universities and colleges -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Persons:

Schultz, Terry.

Sidoti, Ann Joyce.

Organizations:

Children's Theatre Company (Minneapolis, Minn.) -- Administration.

Harvard University -- Administration.

Macalester College -- Presidents.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts -- Administration.

Minneapolis Public Schools.

Minneapolis Public Schools. Board of Education.

New England School Development Council.

President's Task Force on Education.

United States. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Occupations:

School administrators.

School superintendents -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Titles:

John B. Davis's Leadership of the Minneapolis Public Schools, 1967, 1975.

Interim Executive Leadership of John B. Davis.

Urban Educational Executive Policy Leadership.

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