Rev. France Davis receives honorary street designation
Oct 28, 2021, 6:46 PM
The Rev. France Davis holds a new street sign bearing his name after a ceremony to rename a portion of Harvard Avenue in his honor at the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — On Thursday new signs were placed on Harvard Ave between State Street and Main Street in Salt Lake City recognizing local religious and civil rights leader Rev. France Davis, pastor emeritus, of the Calvary Baptist Church. The new green and white signs read, “Pastor France Davis Way.”
“(Rev. France )Davis has been a steady, strong force for good in Salt Lake City,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall at a ceremony to unveil the signs. “From his service as a pastor of Calvary Baptist Church for more than 45 years to his ongoing work on our Commission on Racial Equity in Policing, our community has been fortunate to have Pastor Davis call our capital city home.”
“I am excited to participate in the honorary street naming to recognize Pastor Davis for his many years of service to Calvary Baptist Church and our community,” said Salt Lake City Council Chair Amy Fowler.
In 2019, community members rallied together to start the process of an honorary street sign to recognize Rev. France Davis, a community and religious leader, for his retirement after 46 years.
The Salt Lake City Council accepted the renaming petition in August. Other similar street sign designations that have been made in the past honor Harvey Milk, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Karl Malone, and John Stockton.
Honorary street designations are commonly given to acknowledge, ‘individual, cultural or community contributions.’
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