From the Archives: A Barrier-Breaking Advocate for Equality and Education
A new building perpetuates the legacy of Bonnie Davis, Orange County’s first Black home demonstration agent and a force for greater equity, justice and human rights.
When Bonnie Davis became Orange County’s first Black home demonstration agent in 1950, she didn’t have a proper office, a demonstration kitchen or even an indoor bathroom she and her club members could use.
Now, her successors in North Carolina Cooperative Extension and their clientele of all races have access to a state-of-the-art building that perpetuates her legacy. Dedicated in 2021, the Bonnie B. Davis Environment and Agricultural Center houses several agencies, including Extension, a partnership of NC State Extension, NC A&T State University Cooperative Extension and the county and federal governments.
“Her example is one to remember now and for all times.”
Her impact extended beyond knowledge of cooking, nutrition, family financial management, home care and health she shared through Extension. Throughout her 40-year career and well into retirement, Davis prized partnerships, working with government agencies and private organizations to push for equality, justice and human rights.
Davis died in 2018, but her reputation as a calming influence during difficult times, including the turbulent years of racial integration, persists.
Davis prioritized education. Her daughter, Bonita D. Neighbors, recalled that Davis often said, “‘No one can take from you what you have between your ears.’”
Ivelisse Colón, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent in Orange County, began the grassroots effort to name the new building after Davis.
“Number one, she encountered segregation and went head on against it,” Colón said. “Number two, she was a force to be reckoned with in the community. She would help people regardless of their economic status, race, ethnicity or beliefs. Her example is one to remember now and for all times.”
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