France Davis

by Davis, France A.

• ISBN13: 9780874808735
• ISBN10: 0874808731
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Utah Pr

Summary

As I was coming up, it was painful to me not to have been given my own nickname. It made me feel different, or rather that I was being treated differently from other family members. I wondered why everybody else was spoken to in terms of their identity, their character, their behavior, and I was simply identified by the 'tag,' my given name. But then, when I read in a book that France meant free, I began to think of it as imbuing me with a sense of flight, of movement. Ultimately, I came to believe my name spoke for itself and that I did not need any other.'-from the book Imbued with rich detail of family life in a rural community, as well as a system of values at a time of transition in American history, this is the life story of France Davis, the dynamic pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. It is an engaging story of courage and vision that describes coming of age in the segregation-era South, of dreaming, enduring with honor, and living at the forefront of major issues within the United States. Recorded and skillfully written by Nayra Atiya, France Davis: An American Story Told, is an oral history, ethnography, memoir, perhaps even a life-enhancing sermon delivered with the strong voice of a preacher. The gathered strands of a life lived with conviction and grace will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers from the curious to those seeking inspiration.

Table of Contents

I Am Born and Later Burned	1	(7)
The Coopers and Cooper's Town	8	(4)
The Good Book and Our Goodly Heritage	12	(5)
Magazines, Books, and Stories	17	(3)
Lifelong Student	20	(5)
Calvary's Saturday School	25	(3)
Schools and Teachers	28	(4)
Two Institutions	32	(3)
What Mom and Dad Expected of Their Children	35	(5)
Death	40	(11)
Educational Opportunities	51	(4)
Church Homes	55	(3)
I Am Off to Tuskegee	58	(5)
Florida and the Call to Preach	63	(4)
Common Sense and Honoring Personal Needs	67	(3)
A Full-Time Obligation with My Family's Arms Around Me	70	(5)
A Good Name	75	(2)
Mrs. E. Louise DeBies	77	(5)
Destiny	82	(3)
The Visible Church	85	(3)
Sermons	88	(6)
The Pastor and His Family	94	(6)
Willene, Pastor's Wife	100	(4)
The Military and Elsewhere	104	(6)
A Student and His Ministry	110	(11)
Installation	121	(3)
Glass House	124	(4)
Time and Tasks	128	(2)
Ministers	130	(5)
Lessons	135	(4)
Basic Training	139	(2)
Texas	141	(2)
Las Vegas, Nevada	143	(5)
Southeast Asia	148	(35)
Dreaming and Sharing	183	(7)
Some Siblings and Our Old House	190	(2)
Educate the Head and the Heart	192	(2)
A Minister's Reputation	194	(2)
Sharecropping Neighbors	196	(3)
Responsibilities and Roles	199	(3)
Crafts	202	(2)
Mom	204	(3)
Dad	207	(2)
The Fruits of Summer	209	(3)
Body and the Soul	212	(4)
Born Again	216	(3)
It Takes a Village	219	(5)
Neighbors and Mutual-Aid Societies	224	(2)
The Little Store	226	(2)
Andrew Cooper and Family	228	(2)
Games	230	(3)
Money	233	(2)
Let Your Word Be Your Bond	235	(3)
Aunt Rena, Folklore, and Home Remedies	238	(3)
Medical Care	241	(2)
Peddlers and Storekeepers	243	(3)
Goldberg's	246	(2)
Company	248	(3)
Be Still, God Is at Work	251	(2)
Medicine for the Soul	253	(5)
Home	258	(2)
Burns: My Side of the Story	260	(7)
Burns: Willene's Side of the Story	267	(3)
Utah	270	(4)
Going Somewhere!	274	(3)
Acknowledgments	277	(1)
About Nayra Atiya	278