Etheldra Davis was a groundbreaking educator in Alaska as the first Black teacher hired by the Anchorage School District in1959. Later she became the first Black school principal in the district, following tremendous community support for her appointment to that position. 

Davis mentored other teachers, school principals, and school board members within district education circles. 

Along with her husband Joseph, also a teacher, Davis founded the Alaska Coalition for the Prevention of Shoplifting, Inc. to help deter youth from a life of crime. This continued under the sponsorship of the Anchorage Women’s Club and the Anchorage Police Department to become Neighborhood Watch which continues today in neighborhoods throughout the Anchorage area.

Davis attended elementary school in the Watts area of Los Angeles and graduated from Jordan High School. She obtained her AA from Los Angeles City College and her BA from UCLA earning her teaching credentials. She obtained her Masters in education from the UAF in 1965 and ten years later she obtained her Doctorate in Education from Newport University in Riverside, California.

After Davis death in 2020 due to COVID-19, community efforts and the NAACP were instrumental in advocating to honor her by renaming Fairview Elementary School. As a result, in 2021, the Anchorage School Board unanimously passed a resolution naming the it the “Etheldra Davis Fairview Elementary School.” She loved Fairview,  lived in Fairview, raised her family and owned property there.

Davis was a member of the Black Educators Task Force, Alaska Black Caucus, the Anchorage NAACP Chapter, a lifelong member of Alpha Kappa Sorority, Inc., and the founder of the United League of Girls. 

Davis’ civic involvement in Anchorage included forming NAACP youth Groups.