Roy Tasco Davis had made his career in government, as a congressional aide, and later in the diplomatic corps. As an aide to Speaker of the House "Uncle Joe" Cannon (who was Dr. Ament's nephew), he accompanied the Congressman on a visit to the Seminary, and fell in love with it. He vowed to return to the school one day as its President. Later, he advanced as a diplomat and held the title of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Costa Rica and then to the Republic of Panama. He was a hero to the people of Panama for handling a civil disturbance there without calling in the U.S. Marines.

Before he had his chance to return to Forest Glen, he was an administrator at Stephens College in Missouri. When he acquired the school from Teresa Ament, it was in financial trouble because of the Depression. While enrollment increased at the end of the 1930s and the early 1940s after Davis repositioned the school as a junior college, the recovery was not complete, and it was clear that it would never be as prosperous as it was in the days that it was a finishing school for the daughters of the powerful and wealthy. However, under Davis, the school had begun to make a recovery, and it was in better shape financially and was rebuilding its excellent reputation. When the Army invoked the War Powers Act to take the property, however, Davis was powerless to stop it, and much to his regret, National Park College ceased to exist.

This page was last maintained on 05/21/98.