Dan May

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Dan May (1898–1982) was a Nashville, Tennessee business, educational, and civic leader.

An alumnus and long-time member of the board of trustees of Vanderbilt University[1] , May was an active member and trustee of many civic and educational organizations in the Nashville area.

May is one of the historic Nashville figures whose likenesses were created by artist Red Grooms for the Tennessee Foxtrot Carousel in Nashville.

May was active in the Nashville desegregation effort of the 1950s. In The Jews in America, Arthur Hertzberg wrote,

In Nashville, Tennessee, Dan May, a leading industrialist, was chairman of the school board in 1954, and he took the lead in fostering a plan for integrating the public schools, one grade at a time. This modest suggestion did not endear him to the local racists, and he had to be guarded by police for a while.

May became chairman of the May Hosiery Mills (subsequently part of the Wayne-Gossard Corp.) in Nashville after the death of his father, Jacob May (1861-1946), who founded the company. May's brother Mortimer is the subject of the biography, Mortimer May, Foot soldier in Zion.

[edit] References

• "Daniel May Papers, 1890-1982" from the Tennessee State Archives, available on microfilm (Mf. 1167 -- 2200 items. THS. 3 reels. 16 mm.) Described here:

Papers of Daniel May (1898-1982), Nashville industrialist and community leader whose father, Jacob May (1861-1946), founded the May Hosiery Mill. The bulk of the papers are limited to the years 1945-74. The collection is composed of accounts, clippings, correspondence, genealogical data on the May family, legal documents, photographs, speeches, and several miscellaneous items.

May, a prominent businessman, was also an active member and officer of civic and educational organizations. His correspondence, which makes up about one-half of the collection, reflects both the business and civic nature of his activities. Many letters and photographs concern the operations of the hosiery mill in the years following World War II. Register available. See also Mf. 1546 for additional papers of Daniel May.

• "May, Daniel (1898-1982) Papers, Addition, 1914-1983"-- Short on-line bio of May is included with description of additional May papers on file with Tennessee State Archives. (Microfilm reference: Mf. 1546 650 items. THS. 2 reels. 16/35 mm.)
• Mortimer May, Foot soldier in Zion (Bloch Pub. Co., 1963) by Samuel Shankman, OCLC: 4371750
• The Jews in America: Four Centuries of an Uneasy Encounter: A History (Columbia University Press, 1997), by Arthur Hertzberg, ISBN 0-231-10841-9
• There's an Old Southern Saying: The Wit and Wisdom of Dan May (Crabby Keys Press, c1993), compiled by William May Stern, foreword by Robert K. Massie, ISBN 0963891103 (and ISBN 9780963891105)