Davis taught English and Latin at
Palmer Memorial Institute in
Sedalia, North Carolina from 1925 to 1932. She was a professor and dean of women at
Shaw University in Raleigh from 1932 to 1936. In 1936, she became dean of women and professor of English at
Talladega College in Alabama, where she stayed on the faculty until 1952. Later in life, she was on the staff at the
University of Delaware, where she was associate director of the Writing Center from 1965 to 1970 and where she was the first Black woman to be a full-time faculty member, and a professor of English at
Wilmington College, from 1970 to 1977. She was the second president of the Association of Deans of Women and Advisors to Girls in Negro Schools, and served two terms as president of the National Association of College Women. She was one of the first active Black members of the
American Association of University Women (AAUW). She taught community courses, including "You and Your Teen-Ager". She worked as chief of medical records at Delaware State Hospital from 1961 to 1968, and served on the President's Commission to Study the Needs of Black Women during the Johnson administration, and the President's Commission on Elementary and Secondary School Finance during the Nixon administration. Davis was active in many community organizations, including the
YWCA and the
League of Women Voters, and in church activities. She was the first woman to serve as senior warden in the
Episcopal Diocese of Delaware. == Awards ==