June Davis papers
Scope and Contents
The June Davis papers date from 1957 to 2023 and measure 1.67 linear feet (5 boxes and 1 oversized folder). The collection is organized into four series: Personal, Professional, Activism, and Photographs.
The Personal (1960-2023) series includes correspondence between family and friends, 1-on-1 interviews, distinguished achievements and awards, resumes over the years, public speeches and newspaper clippings featuring Davis’ contributions. The series also includes two interview transcripts, Delta Sigma Theta sorority memorabilia from Davis’s time as a student at Spelman College. The series also documents several oral history interviews Davis gave in her lifetime. One file contains correspondence and other documentation of Davis’ interview with Kathryn Neal for the Iowa Women’s Archives oral history project “Giving Voice to Our Memories: Oral Histories of African-American Women in Iowa,” the transcript to which can be found in that collection (IWA0331). This series also contains transcripts of interviews Davis created with rhetoric scholar Jeanne Law Bohannan and her friend Karen Conzett.
The Professional (1973-2021) series include memorandums, correspondence, performance reviews, project proposals, campus reports, and strategic planning materials documenting Davis’s work at the University of Iowa. The series also features Davis's contributions with the installation of Blue Cap emergency phones to help combat sexual assault on campus and Davis’s participation in women leadership conferences as well as the Black History Month symposium.
The Activism (1960-2013) series include newspaper clippings, correspondence, meeting minutes, and memorabilia documenting Davis’ membership in the African American Council and The Links, Incorporated, a non-profit establishment for volunteer service whose Cedar Rapids chapter rallied against the closing of the Alexander Clark Historical Society. The series also features Davis’s participation in the Atlanta Student Movement, including handwritten accounts of her experience as an inmate following her arrest for protesting, as well as tags and a matchbook from the Fulton County Jail.
The Photographs (1957-2016) series contain photos of Davis over the years as well as photocopies of newspapers documenting her participation in civil rights protests.
Dates
- Creation: 1957 - 2023
Creator
- Davis, June, 1940- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The papers/records are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The donor retains full ownership of copyright they hold in the donated materials.
AND
Copyright status for collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives as the source of the material. For further information, visit the Special Collections and Archives website.
Biographical / Historical
Civil rights activist Norma June Wilson Davis was born in 1940 in Jacksonville, Florida.
After a move to Atlanta, Georgia, Wilson earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and psychology at Spelman College in 1961. While at Spelman, Wilson participated in the Atlanta Student Movement, a series of demonstrations against racial segregation of the city’s public and private facilities, led by local students like Julian Bond and Lonnie King. As a result, in 1960, Wilson alongside other sit-in protesters were housed in Fulton County jail for up to four days.
In 1961, Norma June Wilson and Leodis Davis met in Nashville, Tennessee and were married by 1962. In 1968, Davis moved to Iowa with her husband after accepting a position as faculty professor at the University of Iowa. As part of her adjustment to small town living, Davis became involved in volunteer work and local government activities.
In 1971, Davis was also involved in local government activities, serving on the City of Iowa City Advisory Management Panel and on the Iowa City School Board’s Ad Hoc Commission to Study Racism. From 1972 to 1976, Davis served on the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Commission and temporarily as vice-chair (1973-1975).
In 1976, Davis began her employment at the University of Iowa as the office’s Coordinator of Information Services before transitioning into the role of assistant to the director of Residence Services in 1981. In 1984, Davis was appointed as the acting Director of Affirmative Action Affairs, where she helped with the development of policy statements pertaining to equal employment opportunity and programs designed to eliminate discriminatory inequity problems.
During her professional career, Davis was instrumental in coordinating several campus-wide projects, including the installation of Blue Cap emergency phones to help combat sexual assault on campus.
Davis served on several university committees, including the African American Council, the Council on the Status of Women, the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Harassment, and the Ad Hoc Committee on Energy Conservation. She also served on the search committee for the Director of the Physical Plant and as the chair of the Student Services Review Committee for the Special Support Services Department.
In 1996, Davis was awarded the UI Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women, Distinguished Achievement Award.
Full Extent
1.67 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Civil rights activist.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The June Davis papers (donor no. 451) were donated by June Davis in 2021.
- Author
- Michelle Garcia, 2026.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)
lib-women@uiowa.edu