Had it not been for Peter Davis, Louis Armstrong might not have become a legendary entertainer.
“Although Peter Davis taught thousands of youngsters during his lifetime, he never became as well-known as his most famous student, Louis Armstrong,” Black Past states. “Davis had the ingenuity to recognize the innate talents of young Armstrong before others did.”
Davis was the warden and director of music at the Colored Waifs’ Home for Boys in New Orleans. According to Black Past, Davis taught most of his students to play the cornet or trumpet, but many also took lessons on such instruments as piano, clarinet, saxophone and snare drum. Davis also directed the choir and the quartet. By teaching the boys how to play instruments and sing, Davis kept them out of trouble with the law.
Born near the French Quarter in about 1887 (his exact birthdate is not known), Davis took his first music lessons from William J. Nickerson in the 1890s. He started playing piano, then the cornet. He began to teach music around 1912.
According to The Syncopated Times, Davis used his instructional methodology to “incorporate the fundamentals of life in socializing young boys to become men. Through verbal expressions and his imposing body language, the lessons of discipline were clearly delineated and enforced.” He instilled fear in Armstrong.
“Mr. Davis thought that since I had been raised in such bad company I must also be worthless. From the start he gave me a very hard way to go, and I kept my distance,” Armstrong said. “One day, I broke an unimportant rule, and he gave me 15 hard lashes on the hand. After that I was really scared of him for a long time.”
From about 1914 to the 1960s, Davis performed at a variety of city venues. He retired from the Waif’s Home in 1949, became a volunteer scout leader and continued to teach music.
Davis died in New Orleans on April 29, 1971.
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.