Irene Moore Davis

Author, Educator, Historian

Irene Moore Davis is an educator, historian, writer, podcaster, and community advocate who speaks and writes frequently about equity, diversity, inclusion, and African Canadian history. She is a graduate of the University of Windsor, Western University, and Queen’s University and a retired college administrator who continues to teach courses in

Black history and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Irene’s published work has included poetry, history, and journalism. As an avid historian, Irene Moore Davis has greatly contributed to the recording of the history of the Windsor/Essex area and her work on Canadian Black settlements is included in 2016 book Fluid Frontier: Slavery, Resistance, And The Underground Railroad In The Detroit River Borderland. Her documentary producer credits have included the award-winning The North Was Our Canaan (2020) and Across the River to Freedom (2023.) She was featured in the award-winning 2022 Discovery Channel mini-series Secrets of the Underground Railroad and will be seen in 2023 on the CBC series Black Life: A Canadian History.

Irene fulfills community roles including President of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, Programming Chair at BookFest Windsor, co-host of the All Write in Sin City podcast, co-founder of Black Women of Forward Action, co-host of the television program Talkin’ Real Melanin, member of the board of Canterbury College, and member of the University of Windsor Board of Governors. She serves on national committees of the Anglican Church of Canada. In 2022, Irene was the recipient of the Harriet Tubman Award for Commitment to a Purpose from the Ontario Black History Society and was named to the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women. Irene resides in Windsor, Ontario, with her husband, Rodney Davis.

Sources:

Alumna lauded for promotion of Black history

African Diaspora Empowerment Fund

Frost, K.S. & Tucker, V.S. (2016). Fluid Frontier: Slavery, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad in the Detroit River Borderland.  Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.

Steele, K. (Feb 4, 2018). “The Long Road Continues exploring rich local black history for book.” The Windsor Star. Retrieved Feb 12, 2018 from