Jimmie Davis

Jimmie Davis (James Houston Davis) was born in Quitman, Louisiana, one of eleven children born to a sharecroppers. His father saw education as a way out of poverty. Jimmie attended high school in Winfield, business school in New Orleans, Louisiana College in Pineville, and earned a Masters degree from Louisiana State University. He served two terms as governor of Louisiana, from 1944 to 1948 and from 1960-1964. He also wrote the song "You Are My Sunshine," acted in B westerns, and taught history, as well as yodeling, at Dodd College in Shreveport for a year. He then took a job as court clerk in Shreveport, where he remained through most of the 1930's. He also began to write music during the 1930's. He was able to pick out music on his guitar and sang on the radio station KWKH, where a talent scout heard him and launched his career. Davis became public safety commissioner in 1938, public service commissioner in 1942, and launched his campaign for governor in 1944. When asked about his views on contentious issues, he would sing one of his songs. After his first term he concentrated on his music and also purchased 450 acres of farmland near Shreveport. He wrote hundreds of songs, both sacred and secular. In 1959 he decided to run again for governor. At that time the federal government was launching desegregationist initiatives. The segregationists supported William Rainach, but when it became clear that Rainach was not popular in Louisiana, they backed Davis. When asked late in life how he wanted to be remembered, he said "as someone who scattered a little sunshine along his path."

Dianne Shapiro, from "Jimmie Davis, Louisiana's Singing Governor, Is Dead." by Richard Severo, New York Times, Nov. 6, 2000 (accessed online 8/17/2020)