Year Honored: 1982
Birth: 1894 - 1974
Born in: Delaware
Biography
Known as the “Grande Dame of Delaware Politics,” Vera Gilbride Davis served in a political office for 40 years. Davis got her start campaigning for women’s suffrage in Delaware alongside Mabel Fisher Lloyd Ridgely and Florence Bayard Hilles both within and outside of the state. Though Delaware failed to ratify the 19th Amendment, Davis was among the first to cast her vote when it passed in 1920 – waiting three hours in line to elect her husband, Frank Hall Davis into the House of Representatives.
Besides casting one of the first female votes, Davis was also the first woman elected to a host of political positions in Delaware. She became the first woman Bill Clerk of the House of Representatives in 1927, Secretary of State in 1941, State Senator in 1946, President Pro Tempore of the Senate in 1949, State Representative in 1952, and GOP Majority Leader of the House in 1953. Though Davis ran as a Republican, she garnered a reputation for not sticking to one political ideology, and frequently working across party lines. When she was elected President Pro Tempore, all of those who nominated her were democrats.
In 1956, Davis gained her last political first, when she was the first woman elected to statewide office in Delaware, as State Treasurer. While serving in political offices, Davis advocated for unified legal services, the merit system, a State Department of Public Welfare, and a study of the Magistrate System.
After retiring from public office, Davis devoted the rest of her life to philanthropic pursuits. Having remarked on a number of occasions, “I’m only happy when I am needed by someone else, and I’m miserable when I’m not.” She assisted in organizing the Kent County Republican Women’s Club and served as a board member; lead Boys’ and Girls’ state projects to teach young people about politics; on the Mother’s Pension Committee; served as president of the Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults of Delaware; was named Delaware Mother of the Year in 1962; on the Board of Welfare; and at the time of her death, Davis was the longest serving board member at Kent General Hospital in Dover. ____________________________________________________________________
Sources and Additional Readings
The Davis Collection. Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware. (2018, June 11). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://archives.delaware.gov/2015/10/23/the-davis-collection/.
Delaware Legislative Hall - political and historical portraits. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://regulations.delaware.gov/Tour/information/Political/political-01.shtml.
The New York Times. (1974, May 8). Vera G. Davis dies at 79; Delaware political leader. The New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/08/archives/vera-g-davis-dies-at-79-delaware-political-leader.html.
September 7, 2021. destateparksblog. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://destateparks.blog/2021/02/24/the-grande-dame-of-delaware-politics/.
Vera Gilbride Davis (1894-1974) - find a grave... Find a Grave. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7598853/vera-davis.
