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

Compton, California Compton is a city in 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 city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

, who earned a place in history as the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

woman mayor of a metropolitan city in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Political career

In 1965, 33-year-old Davis defeated incumbent Clyde Harland to become

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

's first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

City Clerk. Eight years later she challenged and defeated another incumbent, Compton Mayor Douglas Dollarhide. By doing so, she became the first female African American Mayor of a major metropolitan city. However, after four years as mayor she did not seek re-election. Davis was succeeded in 1977 by another African-American,

Lionel Cade Lionel B. Cade (August 14, 1918 – April 3, 1990) was an American accountant who served as mayor of Compton, California, from 1977 until 1981. Biography Cade was born in Hardin County, Texas, on August 14, 1918, the son of Charley and Virginia ...

, 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. The A ...

, 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 Aja Lena Brown ( Clinkscale; born April 17, 1982) is an American politician who is the former mayor of Compton, California. She won the election, defeating both incumbent mayor Eric J. Perrodin and former mayor Omar Bradley. Early life 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'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', "''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) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women African-American women mayors {{California-mayor-stub