Ethel McGhee Davis

Davis became the first African American professional social worker in Englewood, New Jersey,[14] when she accepted the position of Director of Social Work at the Social Service Federation for Englewood's African American community in 1925.[7][16][19] Davis served as a social worker for the Social Service Federation's Memorial House, where she directed girls' clubs and activities.[20][21][22] She had previously performed field work at Memorial House while studying at the New York School of Social Work.[19] While in Englewood, Davis worked to improve race relations in the city.[23] Due to her work performance and resulting reputation, she received job offers from the New York Urban League, the national YWCA headquarters, and two local YWCA branches.[7]

Davis was employed as Student Adviser at Spelman College in Atlanta,[14][16][24] beginning in September 1928.[7] In addition to serving as Senior Advisor, Davis taught sociology.[2] She was granted a one-year leave of absence from Spelman in 1930,[13][16] and accepted a fellowship from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to complete graduate work at Columbia University Teachers College.[8][25][26] Davis returned to New York and earned a Master of Arts in Administration and Personnel at Columbia University in 1931, and she was granted a diploma as an adviser of women and girls.[14][15][16] That same year, Davis was named the Dean of Women at Spelman, becoming the college's first African American administrator and its first alumna administrator.[8][14][25] While in New York, Davis was offered the position of Dean of Women at Talladega College; however, she declined to accept the position of Dean at Spelman.[27] Davis served as the college's Dean of Women until 1932.[25] She later served on the Board of Trustees for Spelman from 1940 to 1964, and she remained a Trustee Emeritus thereafter.[14][15][28] She was the first alumna of Spelman to serve as a trustee for the college.[8]

John Warren Davis

Davis married John Warren Davis, President of West Virginia State College, on September 2, 1932, in the garden of her mother's residence in Englewood.[25][29][30] Channing Heggie Tobias, then Senior Executive of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) performed the ceremony.[25][30] She resigned her administrator position at Spelman just prior to her marriage, and she relocated to the West Virginia State campus in Institute, West Virginia.[14][25][30]

At West Virginia State, Davis resided with her husband at East Hall on campus.[14][31] Davis made their residence at East Hall a center for cultural and social events for students, faculty members, and distinguished visitors,[14][31] which included: Mary McLeod Bethune, Ralph Bunche, George Washington Carver, W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, and Eleanor Roosevelt.[8][14][31] Davis hosted large parties on East Hall's porch.[31]

Davis participated in local conferences regarding race relations, including the 1938 occupational conference held by the Charleston Women's Improvement League and the Kanawha County Council of Social Agencies,[32] and the 1952 annual joint meeting of the YWCA and the National Council of Jewish Women, at which she served on a panel to discuss prejudice and suggestions for a cure.[33] She also delivered presentations on race-related subjects to local organizations, including a 1935 presentation to the Women's Loyal Union,[34] and a 1936 presentation on the "American Negro" to the First Methodist Women's Home Missionary in Charleston.[35] Davis participated in the Book Lovers organization and provided book reviews and symposiums at her East Hall residence and at local meetings.[36][37][38] Davis was also active in the local Charleston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and in 1933, she delivered a speech entitled "Youth and Age–Antagonist or Friend?".[39] In 1943, Davis served as the assistant secretary for the Booker T. Washington Memorial Commission, which worked to erect a memorial to Booker T. Washington in his nearby hometown of Malden, West Virginia.[40]

Davis regularly hosted national engagements and conferences at West Virginia State, including the June 1942 national YWCA Leadership Conference.[41][42] In addition to hosting conferences at West Virginia State, Davis regularly gave presentations and speeches at educational events, including graduations. She was a Spelman College Chapel Speaker in April 1936.[43] In 1940, she gave the commencement address at West Virginia State's Teacher Training High School graduation,[44] and in 1951 she delivered the graduation commencement address at Bolling High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia.[45] Following her husband's resignation from West Virginia State in 1953,[46] Davis returned to the campus in May 1955 as the main speaker for the college's Women's Day program.[15]

In 1952, President Harry S. Truman appointed Davis' husband to serve under the first African American U.S. Ambassador, Edward R. Dudley, as the director of the Technical Cooperation Administration program in Liberia.[47][48][49] The Davises arrived in Monrovia in December 1952,[50] residing there for the duration of his tenure in 1954.[47][48][49] While in Liberia, Davis was active with the YWCA Conference at University College Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria.[8]