Every one in the community was so frightened that no
one would nurse the boy. Miss Davidson closed her school and
remained by the bedside of the boy night and day until he
recovered. While she was at her Ohio home on her vacation, the
worst epidemic of yellow fever broke out in Memphis, Tenn., that
perhaps has ever occurred in the South. When she heard of this,
she at once telegraphed the Mayor of Memphis, offering her
services as a yellow-fever nurse, although she had never had the
disease.
Miss Davidon's experience in the South showed her that the people
needed something more than mere book-learning. She heard of the
Hampton system of education, and decided that this was what she
wanted in order to prepare herself for better work in the South.
The attention of Mrs. Mary Hemenway, of Boston, was attracted to
her rare ability. Through Mrs. Hemenway's kindness and
generosity, Miss Davidson, after graduating at Hampton, received
an opportunity to complete a two years' course of training at the
Massachusetts State Normal School at Framingham.
Before she went to Framingham, some one suggested to Miss
Davidson that, since she was so very light in colour, she might
find it more comfortable not to be known as a coloured women in
this school in Massachusetts.
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