Calgary & Southern Alberta

The Glenmore Dam
Courtesy of the Glenbow Collection

Calgary’s mayor between 1930 and 1945, Davidson was popularly known as the singing mayor who would sooner break into song than give a speech. Born in Moneymore, County Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1886, Davidson came to Alberta in 1895. Educated in Edmonton and Calgary, he became a printer and worked in many cities as a linotype operator before settling in Calgary. He worked for the News Telegram, the Albertan, and the Herald. During World War I, Davidson served overseas as a pay-sergeant in the Canadian Army Corps. On his return, he managed and edited The Alberta Veteran. He served as an alderman from 1922 to 1926 and again in 1929.

Davidson's term as mayor spanned Calgary’s most difficult years. As soon as he took office, the city’s financial difficulties – sparked by the Depression – overwhelmed his office. The city owed $2 million for the newly built Glenmore Dam and the stock market had collapsed. Davidson, Horace Howard, former mayor Fred Osborne, and Jules Fortain of Montreal worked out a refinancing scheme.