Davis, Marguerite Norris

Marguerite Norris Davis was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 3, 1890. She wrote children's stories and verse as well as non-fiction pieces for such national publications as Collier's and St. Nicholas. She was a consultant and writer for the Women's Home Companion for thirteen ears, and was also a regular contributor to the Portland Oregonian newspaper. She married Allen Davis on April 5, 1915, and became a Portland, Oregon resident in 1920.

For several years Davis wrote for the Multnomah Press, reporting news as well as contributing weekly columns titled "Ma Muses" and "Meet Your Neighbors." She also coauthored (with Cecil R. Tulley) the book The Building of a Community, a history of the Multnomah-Hillsdale-West Portland area. It was published by the Oregon Historical Society in 1976.

Davis was a Camp Fire Girl in the early years of the organization, and remained active in the group. She organized and led one of the earliest groups in the Chicago area, and also arranged the first Camp Fire Girls group in Columbus, Ohio. Beginning in 1936, Davis was associated with Camp Fire Girls in Portland as a leader, board member and professional staff member. She also assisted with training, music, and the organizing of groups, as well as serving as a Board Historian.

In addition to the above, Davis was a member and program chairman of the Multnomah Woman's Club, an active member and program chairman of the West Hills Horticultural Society, and served as president of the University of Oregon Mothers' Club in 1947-1948. As a member of the Daughters of Civil War Veterans, she engaged in writing the history of members' ancestors' war service. Davis was appointed a member of the Oregon State Civil War Centennial Commission by then-governor Mark Hatfield, and was also appointed to the Advisory Council of the National Civil War Centennial Commission by Major General U.S. Grant III. She served as secretary to both groups.

Davis died January 11, 1978, in Portland, Oregon at the age of eighty-seven.

From the guide to the Marguerite Davis papers, 1921-1977, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)