User:Ngriffeth/MaryDavis

Mary McClintock Davis (January 29, 1911 - April 9, 2014), was an American educator and chronicler of education. She was best known for her work in the growth of St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis, Tennessee, a nationally-recognized, academically rigorous girl's school in Memphis, Tennessee.

She was Dean of the Upper School at St. Mary's from 1964 to 1979, during which time the school more than doubled in size. Also during this period, the school began to admit persons of all colors. This occurred at a time when many white parents were removing their children from the public school system in order to send them to all-white private schools. Dr. Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, who was a teacher at the time, says that “Board of Trustees members resigned, parents transferred children out of school, but Mary Davis stood firm in her advocacy for all children."

After retiring from St. Mary's, she wrote the definitive history of St. Mary's, "A Remarkable Journey." She was also an ordained elder of Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis.

Early life, education, and marriage
Mary Davis was born Mary McClintock on January 27, 1911 in Nodoa, Hainan, China, to Presbyterian missionaries who established and ran a school for Chinese children. Her first language was Chinese. After leaving China, she lived with her parents in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and in Laurel, Mississippi.

Mrs. Davis attended an independent school in {{Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], and Hood College in Fredericksburg, Maryland, graduating in 1931. She also studied at the National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois, and later earned an M.A. from the University of Memphis.

In 1937, she married David McClure Davis, who died at age 37 in a tragic boating accident. Their three daughters were ages 8, 6 and 2. Mrs. Davis and her children returned to Laurel, where she helped launch St. John’s Day School at an Episcopal church. In 1954, Mrs. Davis moved to Memphis with her mother and three daughters and took a job as a secretary and business manager at what was then known as Miss Hutchison’s School, an independent day school for girls{{{sfn|Davis|forward by Anne Galbreath Fisher}}.

Accomplishments at St. Mary's Episcopal School
In 1964, Mrs. Davis became Dean of the Upper School at St. Mary’s, a job she held for 15 years. She initially retired in 1979, but returned to St. Mary’s as Acting Head of School in 1980-1981. She then served as Alumnae Director, Development Officer, and as the founding editor of the St. Mary’s News, the precursor to the current St. Mary’s Magazine. Mrs. Davis wrote the definitive history of St. Mary’s, A Remarkable Journey, published in 1998

She served as dean of the upper school at St. Mary’s School in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1964 until 1979 and under her leadership, the upper school grew from 107 students to 250 students. In 1969, she "stood with Nat Hughes [the headmaster] to allow persons of all colors to be admitted " to the school (the first private school in Memphis, Tennessee, to do so). This occurred at a time when many private schools were being formed to avoid the integration in the public schools. In spite of the continued segregation of most Memphis private schools, St. Mary's School grew rapidly in the 1970's and today minorities represent about 20% of the student body.

Anne Fisher, who succeeded Mrs. Davis as Dean of the Upper School, said that “St. Mary’s is the school it is today in large measure because of her." Albert Throckmorton, the head of the school in 2014, said that "She loved the girls, she loved the mission of the school, and she knew more about it at 103 than any other single person did, especially in her role as the official chronicler of the school." After stepping down as dean, she served as interim head of school in 1981-82, alumnae director, development officer, and the founding editor of the St. Mary’s News, now St. Mary’s Magazine.

In 1998, she published “A Remarkable Journey,” the definitive history of St. Mary’s. The book traces the school's history from its founding in 1847 until 1997, and it was written at that time because of the recognition that the school's sesquicentennial year was approaching. This realization was brought about by the work of St. Mary’s students, who discovered two artifacts while researching a history class assignment. One was a book of poems authored by Mary Foote Pope, with an inscription "St. Mary's School, Ash Wednesday, 1872," and the other was a medal given to a student's great-grandmother while a student at St. Mary's in 1866. Subsequent research by the students indicated that the school was founded in 1847, before the Civil War, instead of 1869, as had been believed for many years.

Other Activities and Later Life
During the 1950s, she was one of the founders of St. John’s Episcopal School in Laurel, Mississippi. After moving to Memphis, Tennessee, she worked at The Hutchison School (then named Miss Hutchison’s School) from 1954 to 1964.

Mrs. Davis was a member of Idlewild Presbyterian Church, where she was a deacon, an elder of the church and taught numerous Sunday School classes. She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Exchange Club, a member and officer of Zonta International, and volunteered for the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association, Calvary Street Ministry, Church Health Center, and More than a Meal at Idlewild.

For the past 15 years, Mrs. Davis lived at Trezevant Retirement Community on Highland Avenue, where she continued to contribute to educating young people by serving on the Trezevant Scholarship Committee, which provides scholarships to young people who work at Trezevant and want to further their education.

Legacy and Honors

 * In January 2012, Mrs. Davis was recognized as Dean Emerita and a new Chapel banner was dedicated in her honor.
 * St. Mary's Episcopal School named the "Mary M. Davis Hall" in her honor.
 * In 1988, St. Mary's established the Mary M. Davis Scholarship Fund in honor of Dean Emerita Mary Davis.
 * In 1978, the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools recognized Ms Davis as Outstanding Educator.