DAVIS FAMILY & ARVIDA - BONDED BY A COMMON DENOMINATOR - BORN AND RAISED IN ALCANS' ARthurVIningDAvis

"It's better to create memories than live 

with regret."  

           The momentum is building for the celebrations surrounding the 90ieth anniversary of the official founding of Arvida ( 1926-2016 ) to be held during La Fête d'Arvida weekend of June 04/06 in Davis Square. As a proud Arvida Ambassador, I will be present to help with the celebrations and record the milestone historical event. 

Arthur Vining Davis in his 20s

Actually, Arthur Vining Davis had of course visited the area many times in previous years before 1926 with his business friends and close associates, ( names like the Mellon brothers , Hall,  Hunt, Cothran, Gillespie, Price and Duke - household street names )  BUT it was on September 10, 1925 that he started construction of his Arvida aluminum plant and decided to name the townsite after himself :  Ar-Vi-Da , Arvida, Québec. Five . yes 5 homes were being built every day ...actually 270 homes in 135 days ...absolutely amazing !!  Now that is efficiency and excellent town planning ....carried out by Mister Harold R. Wake, a civil engineer from the USA who took charge of property development in Arvida, guided the townsite planning, and was the much respected father of the city for many years. As a kid , I knew many of the families living on Wake street during my youth, but I never had a clue at the time just how important this man was in the building history of Arvida.

           My conclusion is that Arvida was such a great team effort, led by the Davis family, but with hundreds of brave, intelligent, hard-working other men and women participating to lead towards the world class status that was eventually attained by Alcan's Arvida.  In 2016, I firmly now believe that the recognition and  status of a UNESCO  world heritage site is clearly within reach !

             Arthur Vining Davis ( known as Art )  lived a long and fulfilling life as an adventurous and far-sighted industrialist and philanthropist, passing away on November 17, 1962 at the ripe old age of 95 in Miami, Florida. His net worth at the time of his death was $400 million USD, which was approximately  1/1103th of the United States GNP. At the time of his retirement from Alcoa in 1957, he was already listed as the third-richest individual in the world. Most of this money was set up in a trust to become the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, with all monies to remain in the USA.  He actually went on to have another successful career in real estate in Florida after his so-called first retirement from Alcoa.  He was born on May 30, 1867 in Sharon, Massachusetts, the son of a Congregational Minister Perley B. Davis and his wife Mary Frances.  He was one of 3 brothers ......Arthur, the eldest, Edward , and Albert. His brother Edward K. Davis was the father of Holbrook R. Davis, whom I am in contact with. The two oldest brothers went to Pittsburgh where they ultimately  became industrialists, working for Alcoa and founding Alcan in Arvida. The last brother Albert went on to California where he became, like his own father, a Congregational minister.

                   Because Davis cherished privacy, his personal success was not accompanied by much exposure to the media about his business or private life. He did not usually fare well in interviews. "I've had to work hard all my life," he asserted to a reporter. "I've had to work sixteen hours a day to make a good living. Do you work sixteen hours a day?" Time magazine referred to Davis as a "terrible-tempered tycoon...ruling [Alcoa] with desk-thumping autocracy," a view that was not atypical in the press at large.  Unfortunately, no autobiography was ever written about this highly successful businessman. As well, he was married twice and he had no children. He did become a major philanthropist and created The ArthurVining Davis Foundations in 1952, providing financial assistance to educational, religious, cultural and scientific institutions in the USA only. The foundations are regular PBS donors as well.

Arthur Vining Davis in his 90s

           I personally invested one full year of networking to arrange a September, 2015 meeting  with the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations in Boston, as part of my mandate as an Arvida Ambassador. On this occasion, I had the pleasure of meeting at this important dinner and first ever networking meeting, Mr. Maynard K. Davis, the grand nephew of Arthur Vining Davis, along with Mrs. Nancy Cable, the new President of the Foundations. Along with speeches, presentations and gift exchanges, it was a special moment to induct Maynard K. Davis ( 65 )  and his father Holbrook R. Davis ( now 94 )  as honorory Arvida Ambassadors, presenting them with the symbolic personalized aluminum lunch box filled with Arvida history from USB flash drives to post cards to t-shirts.   Since this event, I feel honored to be in the same club, the same family in effect, as a Davis. Consequently, I have become the main liaison between the Davis family ancestors and the town of Arvida, founded by the uncle of Holbrook Davis, Mr. Arvida , Arthur Vining Davis, 90 years ago.  In a recent letter I received from Osterville, MA near Cape Cod , the home of Mr. Davis, he fondly remembers that he had visited Arvida in 1940 where a Mr. Lamontagne ( LaMountain)  had shown him around. He was also invited to the opening ceremonies of the Shipshaw bridge in the summer of 1950. I have learnt that a book along with Davis family genealogy is now in the works.

N.B.    The City of Saguenay ( comprising borough of ARVIDA )  passed an official  municipal bylaw in 2015 specifying heritage recognition for certain important pioneers. Having attended this municipal meeting, I was very pleased to learn that Arthur Vining Davis was officially named as one of the historic figures to be recognized in its heritage, as we work towards UNESCO recognition of Arvida as a world heritage site. Congratulations AVD ! ( and family )
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                 Honorary Arvida Ambassador Club members                           ( inducted  September 2015 ) 

Holbrook R. Davis ( AVD nephew ) and son Maynard K. Davis ( AVD grand nephew ) 

 

                         Arvida Ambassador Club meets the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations                                Boston September 2015 

( l to r )  Terry Loucks - Arvida Ambassador & Meeting Facilitator, Nancy Cable - President AVD Foundations, Maynard Davis - AVD grand nephew, Jean Tremblay - Mayor of Ville Saguenay, Claude Guay - President Ambassador Club