Educator, education services administrator, Native American and women's rights activist
Years active
1961–2013
Partner
Ruth Gudinas
Dorothy Davids (May 2, 1923 – October 4, 2014) was an American educator, educational services administrator, and a Native American and women's rights activist. She was an enrolled member of the Stockbridge–Munsee Community. Born in Red Springs, Wisconsin, she attended school in the Native American boarding school system. These schools did not allow students to speak their Native languages or practice their cultural traditions and focused on assimilating Indigenous people into mainstream society.
After graduating from Bowler High School she studied at Central State Teacher's College (now the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point). The first Native American student to graduate from Stevens Point, she earned teaching credentials in 1945. At the time, although there was a teacher shortage, she had difficulty in finding a position and had to agree to lower pay to secure a job.
After 16 years of teaching, Davids received her master's degree in education and human development from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1961. She worked for a summer at the National Congress of American Indians and then was awarded a John Hay Whitney fellowship for post-graduate studies at the University of Chicago. In Chicago, she joined the intertribal efforts for Native American rights, participating in conferences and workshops. She worked as a counselor at the American Indian Center and as a recruiter for the Upward Bound program at Mundelein College. While in Chicago, she met her life partner Ruth Gudinas, a nun from New York. Returning to Wisconsin in 1965, Davids worked for several community initiatives of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, before being hired as coordinator of outreach services for the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension. In her tenured position at the university, she worked on building bridges between Native people and mainstream society. She conducted educational seminars for women's groups, state and local governments, and various NGOs to create awareness about Native cultures and to advocate for Native self-determination. She also worked with the Stockbridge–Munsee Community leadership on initiatives to preserve their history and culture, such as the creation of the Arvid E. Miller Memorial Library and Museum in 1974.
In addition to her educational services administration work, Davids worked on projects for the 1976 Bicentennial under sponsorship from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Smithsonian Institution. She spent a year as director of the Center for Racial Justice at the New York City YWCA. She co-chaired the state Advisory Council on Women’s Initiatives and served several terms on the state board for Indian Language and Culture Education. Retiring in 1985, Davids and Gudinas operated an educational consultation business called Full Circle. The organization worked to produce educational curricula that would foster pacifism and diversity. Davids served as tribal historian and chair of the tribe's historical committee. She helped found Muh-he-con-neew Press, as the publication arm of the committee. She received numerous awards from educational and community organizations during her lifetime, including having a room named after her at the University Center on the Stevens Point campus. The property on which she and Gudinas lived in their later life was purchased by the tribe in 2014 and named the Dorothy Davids and Ruth Gudinas Woodland Reserve, in the couple's honor.
DorothyDavids (May 2, 1923 – October 4, 2014) was an American educator, educational services administrator, and a Native American and women's rights activist...
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