Enoch Douglas Davis facts for kids

Enoch Douglas Davis (1908—1985) was an American reverend, author, and civil rights activist. He spent most of his life in St. Petersburg, Florida. His family moved there in 1925. He began his religious journey in 1930 at Bethel Community Baptist Church, then called Second Bethel. Two years later, he became the church's official pastor.

When he retired in 1984, he had served Bethel Community for over 50 years. This made him the longest-serving pastor in St. Petersburg's history at that time. As an author, he wrote Toward the Promised Land and his autobiography, On The Bethel Trail.

As a civil rights activist, he played a huge part in ending segregation in the city. He also helped empower the Black American community. Because of his work, St. Petersburg avoided much of the race-related violence seen in other Southern cities in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the first Black president of the St. Petersburg Council of Churches. He received 11 awards, including the National Conference of Christians and Jews’ Silver Medallion Brotherhood Award in 1980. The Enoch Davis Center is named after him.

Early Life and Education

Enoch Davis was born in 1908 in Burke County, Georgia. His parents, Abram and Mozell Davis, were cotton farmers. He was the youngest of sixteen children. The family raised their own animals and grew vegetables. They valued hard work and prayer. Enoch was good at farming tasks, like planting corn.

Many Black families in the area, including sharecroppers, faced unfair treatment from white landowners. Enoch's oldest brother left home to avoid this. He moved north and only returned once to see their father. After Abram's death, his mother Mozell moved the family to Waynesboro, Georgia. They lived there for three years.

In Waynesboro, Enoch worked for a Black doctor, Dr. Wm. H. Bryan. He helped maintain the office and delivered medicine. He also met Rev. Bob Phelps, a pastor and principal of Boggs Academy High School. This school was considered the best Black high school nearby. Enoch attended church services with them and was inspired. He went to Waynesboro High and Industrial, which offered classes up to the eleventh grade.

Life in St. Petersburg

In November 1925, Enoch Davis's family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. He was a teenager at the time. His first job was paving streets. He also unloaded ships, sprayed citrus trees, wrote insurance claims, and worked in cafeterias. He loved playing baseball after work but always tried to go to church on Sundays. He remembered his neighborhood fondly, saying people felt safe and trusted each other.

Bethel Community Baptist Church, then called Second Bethel, was started in St. Petersburg in 1923. Before becoming pastor, Enoch had many roles at the church. He was an usher, choir boy, clerk, and Sunday school teacher. He gave his first sermon at age 21 in May 1930. He got his license to preach later that year.

After the previous pastor left, the deacons asked Enoch to apply for the position. He first said no, thinking others had more experience. But he found encouragement in a pamphlet that read, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” He was ordained on December 8, 1931. He began serving as Second Bethel's fourth pastor in January 1932.

Bethel was the only church he ever led. He turned down offers from richer churches. He chose to stay at Bethel because he wanted to see more positive changes there and in St. Petersburg.

Davis married Hazel, a schoolteacher. They were together for 40 years and had a son, LeRoy, and a daughter, Elizabeth. He later became a grandfather.

Even as a pastor, Davis wanted to learn more. He traveled to earn his degrees. He sometimes faced discrimination and harassment because of his race during his travels. He earned his Associate in Arts degree from Florida Normal and Industrial Memorial College. He also earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1964, he earned his master's degree in Religious Education. He also attended the University of South Florida.

Impact on the Community

Under Davis's leadership, Second Bethel grew a lot. Its congregation went from 180 to over 700 members. The church also added an educational building in the late 1940s. The church helped with voter registration for Black citizens. It also opened a credit union in 1953 to help members financially.

In 1962, Bethel Community adopted a "Policy on Open Membership." This policy rejected all types of discrimination. It declared that church membership should never be based on a person's race.

Davis was elected Moderator for the West Coast District Baptist Association in Florida in 1951. He changed the term limits for this role. He also worked with groups like the YMCA and the Council on Human Relations. In 1956, he helped integrate city bus lines and end job discrimination.

In January 1966, Davis became the first Black president of the St. Petersburg Council of Churches. He served for two terms. He once ran for City Council in 1969 but did not win. His wife, Hazel, said, “His purpose was to help people. Not politics.”

Davis cared deeply about poverty and race relations. He believed these issues were connected. In 1971, under his leadership, Bethel Community Heights was built. This was an 84-unit housing project for low and middle-income Black and white families.

Rev. Davis said he never planned to be an activist. But he became known as "one of St. Petersburg’s foremost civil rights activists." He always believed in nonviolence to achieve equal rights. His church helped the community fight against discrimination.

At that time, "every aspect of African American life in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and their surrounding cities was segregated." Black students went to separate, underfunded schools. Black people could only go to "Black only" hospitals. Many public places like restaurants and beaches were segregated. St. Petersburg was famous for its "green benches," which were for white people only. Police kept Black residents off these benches.

Davis worked to end bus and school segregation. He fought against employment discrimination. He also worked to get voting rights for Black people. He helped open the city's beaches and public pools to the Black community. He led sit-ins at lunch counters and theaters.

He was involved with the Freedom Riders. These activists protested segregation laws in the late 1950s. Rev. Davis let them stay in his home and use the church as their headquarters. He helped protect them from angry segregationists. He received threats for his civil rights work. In 1984, he said, “I didn’t think about the risks then. Just the right.”

He marched with the city's sanitation workers in 1968. They went on strike for 116 days, demanding better wages. Rev. Lacy R. Harwell said, “Rev. Davis expanded his ministry beyond his congregation and took the whole town for his parish.”

In 1979, Rev. Davis published his book, On The Bethel Trail. It tells the story of his ministry and civil rights work.

Awards and Later Years

Rev. Davis received many awards for his service. In May 1968, he was the first Black person to receive the Liberty Bell Award. This was for his efforts to maintain law and order. In 1980, he received the National Conference of Christians and Jews’ Silver Medallion Brotherhood Award.

In September 1981, the city honored Davis by opening the Enoch Davis Center. This is a community center with a library, science center, auditorium, and offices. Davis called this “one of my greatest honors.” The center has become a hub for community and activism. He also received awards from the YMCA and the United Negro College Fund. His church also honored him by adding an Educational Wing and new pews.

After 52 years of service, Rev. Davis retired in March 1984 at age 75. He was the longest-serving pastor in St. Petersburg's history at that time. He continued to attend church and volunteer. He believed that "blacks still have a long way to go."

On September 29, 1985, Rev. Davis died at age 77 after battling pancreatic cancer. His funeral was held at Bethel Community Baptist Church. Many people came to pay their respects.

One church member said, “He was like Martin Luther King…a very peaceful man.” At his service, mourners were told that Rev. Davis's work “is not complete.” Davis himself had similar thoughts in his book, saying that the country still had a long way to go for human equality and brotherhood.

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