A Guide to the Ralph Hickman Davis papers, 1943-2021 #50284

Biographical Information

Ralph Hickman Davis was born 5 February 1915 in Providence, Rhode Island, to William and Rhoda Davis. He graduated from East Providence High School in 1934. Davis played baseball with some independent African American teams and with area teams, helping to desegregate the Piedmont Twilight League and the Pawtucket Inter City League. Davis also learned to fly, receiving his pilot's license in 1939, and he would eventually be inducted into the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame. Davis enlisted in the Army Air Corps in November 1941 and was a pilot, instructor, and mechanic for the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the Tuskegee Airmen. Honorably discharged in 1945, Davis settled down with his wife Mary Tate Davis in her hometown of Staunton, Virginia, and they had one son. Davis continued his interest in flying and restored a Piper Cub J-3 airplane. Davis died in 2002.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1943-2021, of Ralph Hickman Davis (1915-2002) of Rhode Island and Staunton, Virginia, consisting of articles, booklets, brochures, military records, photographs, scrapbooks, yearbooks, and other materials detailing Davis's service with the 99th Pursuit Squadron--the Tuskegee Airmen--during World War II (Tuskegee yearbook is on CD); his post-war activities in aviation; and his pre-World War II baseball activities. Collection contains articles, judicial records, photographs, receipts and other papers concerning Mary Tate Davis (1920-1983), the Davis family of Rhode Island, and the Tate and Branson families of Staunton. Collection also includes CDs containing photographs of the Davis and Tate families--many of the photographs are in the collection as hard copies. Papers also include information on the Brown Colbert (1785-1833) family and the Edmondson family of West Virginia.

Contents List

Ralph Hickman Davis papers .

Box 1

Extent: 1 box.

Papers, 1943-2021, of Ralph Hickman Davis, containing information on Davis's service with the 99th Pursuit Squadron (the Tuskegee Airmen), his youth as an athlete in Rhode Island before World War II, his post-war activities in aviation including photographs, and information on the Tuskegee Airmen. Also includes genealogical information on the Hickman and Davis families.

Box 1 Folder 1
Ralph H. Davis military records, 1942-1945
Box 1 Folder 2
Piper Cub J-3
Box 1 Folder 3
Ralph H. Davis general papers
Box 1 Folder 4
Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame, 21 November 2009
Box 1 Folder 5
Ralph Davis commemoration by the Pawtucket Red Sox, 16 July 2012
Box 1 Folder 6
City of Staunton proclamation honoring the Staunton Wild Cats (Ralph Davis, 3B), 10 February 2022
Box 1 Folder 7
Ralph H. Davis baseball glove (photograph)
Box 1 Folder 8
Ralph H. Davis and Mary Tate Davis photograph
Box 1 Folder 9
Mary Tate Davis
Box 1 Folder 10
Mary Tate Davis--Greenwood School (Rosenwald School)
Box 1 Folder 11
Mary Tate Davis/Clinton Davis--Virginia L. Murray Elementary School Namesake Wall, November 2022
Box 1 Folder 12
Clinton Davis newspaper articles, 11, 13 February 2023
Box 1 Folder 13
Davis family papers
Box 1 Folder 14
Davis family scrapbook, 1940s-1950s
Box 1 Folder 15
Davis family photographs
Box 1 Folder 16
Davis family photographs (CD disc)
Box 1 Folder 17
Davis-Tate family photographs
Box 1 Folder 18
Ralph Davis and Clinton Davis--camping and Good Sam RV club
Box 1 Folder 19
Photographs--Jamestown; Colonial Williamsburg; Marine Museum, Quantico, Virginia; World War II memorial, Washington DC; Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama; Alaska; aerial view of Staunton, Virginia
Box 1 Folder 20
Winchester rifle
Box 1 Folder 21
Davis-Hickman family genealogy
Box 1 Folder 22
Hickman family census records and marriage certificate, 1850-1900
Box 1 Folder 23
Tuskegee Airfield yearbook, ca. 1943
Box 1 Folder 24
99th Pursuit Squadron, 2006
Box 1 Folder 25
Physical training department, Tuskegee Air Field, ca. 1942-1943
Box 1 Folder 26
The Tuskegee Airmen
Box 1 Folder 27
Tuskegee Airmen--articles and clippings
Box 1 Folder 28
Tuskegee Airmen program--Staunton, Virginia, 15 July 2012
Box 1 Folder 29
Tuskegee Airmen program--Wilson Middle School, Staunton, Virginia, February 2020
Box 1 Folder 30
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
Box 1 Folder 31
Reunion of Tuskegee groundcrews--Rantoul, Illinois, Chanute Field
Box 1 Folder 32
"My Dad Was a Tuskegee Airman " stickers
Box 1 Folder 33
Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida--Tuskegee Airmen exhibit
Box 1 Folder 34
Scrapbook--Tuskegee Air Field; St. Petersburg, Florida; Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois; Germany, ca. 1980s-1990s
Box 1 Folder 35
Military planes photographs

Tate-Branson and related families .

Box 2

Extent: 1 box.

Contains genealogical information on the Tate, Branson, and related families of Albemarle and Augusta Counties, and Staunton, Virginia, and surrounding areas. Also includes information on African American history in Staunton.

Box 2 Folder 1
Tate family papers, 1885-1963
Box 2 Folder 2
Tate family birth, marriage and death records, 1879-1914
Box 2 Folder 3
Luther Tate and Lavinia Branson Tate photographs
Box 2 Folder 4
Tate-Branson family papers
Box 2 Folder 5
Tate-Branson family photographs
Box 2 Folder 6
Branson family papers
Box 2 Folder 7
Branson family birth and marriage records, 1874-1910
Box 2 Folder 8
Branson family--Sarah Branson's great great grandchildren
Box 2 Folder 9
Tate and related families funeral bulletins
Box 2 Folder 10
Tate-Proctor family
Box 2 Folder 11
Bright family
Box 2 Folder 12
Brown Colbert family, also Thomas Jefferson and slavery exhibitions
Box 2 Folder 13
"Roots and Remembrance: From the Descendants of Monticello's Enslaved Families " Charlottesville, Virginia, 13 January 2020
Box 2 Folder 14
Brown and Edmondson families--Bill Webb correspondence
Box 2 Folder 15
Edmondson family papers
Box 2 Folder 16
Edmondson family papers: "The Hemings Family's Civil War "
Box 2 Folder 17
African American businesses in Staunton and Fairview Cemetery
Box 2 Folder 18
Articles, clippings, flyers on Augusta County and Staunton, 1970, 2018, and undated
Box 2 Folder 19
CDs containing photographs from both series. Hard copies are located throughout the collection.