Nann was born on November 21, 1906 in Brownsville , Tennessee . She was one of nine children: eight girls and one boy. She lost her mother at a very early age and was raised by her grandmother and cousin. While in Brownsville she attended the Haywood County Public School .
On November 22, 1927 , Nann married Elisha Davis in Brownsville . In 1928, they moved to Chicago , then in 1929 to Niles , Michigan . Due to the death of Elisha's father, Isaac, in 1933, Nann, Elisha and three of their children returned to Tennessee . They had to endure the racial restrictions and limitations ("Jim Crow") of that era. After being banished from the County of Haywood by the KKK due to Nann's husband Elisha's efforts to organize a local chapter of the NAACP, they returned to Niles in June of 1940. Eleven additional children completed Nann and Elisha's family.
Nann became a member of the Second Baptist Church of Niles, known today as Mt. Calvary Baptist Church , where Elisha served as a Deacon, and quickly settled into the community. She raised her children and made many friends; in September of 1986, she lost her beloved Eli.
In 1993, the book LIFTING THE VEIL by Dr. Richard Couto was published, which chronicled Nann and Elisha's Brownsville Experience. Their strong belief in education and community service was the basis for the creation of IDDFAR, Inc. in September of 2000, a non-profit organization which awards the Elisha and Nann Davis Scholarship to a deserving Niles or Brandywine High School college-bound senior each year.
Nann's life was touched by the Depression, "Jim Crow," World War II, the Korean Conflict, the 70's, 80's, and 90's, and the beginning of a new millennium. No stranger to heartache and sorrow, Nann's faith in God, her family, and her many friends, through their love, prayers and acts of kindness, helped her to carry on. She was truly a remarkable woman whom I deeply loved and respected....and will very much miss.
If you would like to learn more about Nann and her incredible life, you should check out the book LIFTING THE VEIL, by Dr. Richard A. Couto, University of Tennessee Press, 1993. (A winner of The Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States.)
In 2002, IDDFAR, Inc. was formed. This non-profit foundations gifts an annual scholarship to a deserving student in the Niles, Michigan area. To find out more about IDDFAR and what it stands for, you can visit http://iddfar.org.
We are currently researching the genealogy of the Davis (Isaac), White (Dora) and Hess families in Tennessee. If you have any information you'd like to share, please email me at ndavis@nd.edu
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