Black Archives Hall of Fame Induction

The Black Archives Museum of the St. Joseph Museum is proud to announce three new inductees into the Black Archives Hall of Fame on Thursday, February 27,2025. Inductees have had a significant and lasting impact on the St. Joseph Community as a whole (economic, civic involvement, inspirational contributions, and educational contributions) and have made major contributions in the cultural, sports, and/or civic areas.Mr. Chuck Davis, Mr. Elbert “Buddy” Davis and Mrs. Kelsy Beshears (posthumous) are this year’s inductees.

Chuck Davis may best be described as a people-person.He has always liked being involved with the people around him.Currently he serves as President of the Benton High School Alumni Association.He is a member of the St. Joseph Police Advisory Committee.Chuck is an avid researcher of Black history in St. Joseph.He donated numerous photographs to the Black Archives Museum.Those photographs are now part of the Chuck Davis Photo Collection.They are invaluable to telling the story of African American history in St. Joseph.

In 1976, Elbert “Buddy” Davis was hired right out of college by the Joyce Raye Patterson as the Recreation Supervisor. He was the first supervisor of the new neighborhood youth center funded by the City of St. Joseph with Community Development Block Grant funding. He was instrumental in the program development, volunteer recruitment, activity supervision, and staff support to the program advisory council for the Wesley Center which would later become INTER/SERV.

Known as one of the most important figures for the Civil Rights Movement in St. Joseph is Mrs. Kelsy Beshears. The former educator was the first elected President of the NAACP Branch in St. Joseph. Throughout her lifetime, Beshears would organize boycotts to fight racial injustices. Beshears also has a lot of "firsts" throughout the area, such as being the first black women to serve on a criminal jury in Buchanan County and the first person to organize the St. Joseph Human Rights Commission. Beshears lived to be 100 years old and is known as an "Unsung Hero".

The night will start with mingling at 5:30PM with the induction starting at 6:00PM. Please contact sjm@stjosephmuseum.org with any questions.