Introduction
Dan May (1898–1982) was a Nashville, Tennessee business, educational and civic leader.
Biography
An alumnus and long-time member of the board of trustees of Vanderbilt University, 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.
In Mortimer May, Foot soldier in Zion, the 1965 biography of May's brother Mortimer, Sam Shankman summarized Dan May's civic involvement:
Noted family members
- May was the father of radio DJ Jack May (a.k.a. "Candied Yam Jackson"), known for originating the phrase "screw the pooch."
- May was related to infamous gangster Dutch Schultz, born Arthur Flegenheimer.