Doris A. Davis (born circa 1935) is a former mayor of

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

, who earned a place in history as the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

woman mayor of a metropolitan city in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Political career

In 1965, 33-year-old Davis defeated incumbent Clyde Harland to become Compton's first

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

City Clerk; she won reelection in May 1972 with 83.8% of the vote. In 1973, she challenged and defeated incumbent Compton Mayor Douglas Dollarhide. By doing so, she became the first female African American Mayor of a major metropolitan city in the United States. However, after four years as mayor she did not seek re-election. Davis was succeeded in 1977 by another African-American, Lionel Cade, an accountant and former member of the city council, who also served only one term. In 1986, Davis unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, 54th District. She finished third in the Democratic primary. Until 2013, Davis was the only female mayor in Compton's history. On June 4, 2013, Aja Brown was elected as Compton's 2nd female mayor and the city's youngest mayor. In 2004, Alita Godwin became only the second

woman to serve as Compton City Clerk.

References

*'' Jet'', June 11, 2001, vol. 99 issue 26, p. 19 *''

Los Angeles Herald-Examiner The ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'' was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published in the afternoon from Monday to Friday and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. It was formed when the afternoon ' ...

'', "''Distaff mayor determined in dream for Compton''", November 11, 1973, pt. A, p. 10 *''

'', "''Compton's mayor Doris Davis speaks out''", April 19, 1974, p. A-2 *''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', "''Doris Davis running hard and fast''", September 23, 1973, pt. 10, p1 1935 births Living people Mayors of Compton, California African-American mayors in California Women mayors of places in California Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century mayors of places in California 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians African-American women mayors {{California-mayor-stub

Political career

See also

References