Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis (September 11, 1899 – November 5, 2000) was an American singer, songwriter, and politician. After achieving fame for releasing both sacred and popular songs, Davis served as governor of Louisiana from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1960 to 1964. As Governor, he was an opponent of efforts to desegregate Louisiana.[1]
For other people named James Davis, see James Davis (disambiguation).
Jimmie Davis
Earl Long
November 5, 2000 (aged 101)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Jimmie Davis Tabernacle Cemetery, Quitman, Louisiana
Alvern Adams (died 1967)
1
Singer, songwriter, former educator, politician
Davis was a nationally popular country music and gospel singer from the 1930s into the 1960s, occasionally recording and performing as late as the early 1990s. He appeared as himself in a number of Hollywood movies. He was inducted into six halls of fame, including the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. At the time of his death in 2000, he was the oldest living former governor as well as the last living governor to have been born in the 19th century.
Early life and career[edit]
Childhood and birth date confusion[edit]
Davis was not sure of his date of birth; according to The New York Times, "Various newspaper and magazine articles over the last 70 years said he was born in 1899, 1901, 1902 or 1903. He told The New York Times several years ago that his sharecropper parents could never recall just when he was born – he was, after all, one of 11 children – and that he had not had the slightest idea when it really was."[2][3] The birth date listed on his Country Music Hall of Fame plaque is September 11, 1904.[4]
Education[edit]
Davis graduated from Beech Springs High School and from Soule Business College, in New Orleans.[5] His 1927 master's thesis, which examines the intelligence levels of different races, is titled Comparative Intelligence of Whites, Blacks and Mulattoes.[6]
Career beginnings[edit]
During the late 1920s, Davis taught history (and, unofficially, yodeling) for a year at the former Dodd College for Girls in Shreveport. The college president, Monroe E. Dodd, who was also the pastor of First Baptist Church of Shreveport and a radio preacher, invited Davis to serve on the faculty.[7]
Davis had several appearances in movies (usually or always as himself), including: