Welcome to the
John P. Davis Collection's Web site.
More than a showcase for our endeavors in illuminating
the life and work of the renowned civil rights attorney and
founding publisher of the first African American national
magazine - Our World. This authoritative record on Davis's
life includes voluminous documents we have collected to
date and tried to make accessible to you. There are many
collections of Davis' work; we have tried to compile online
documents for easy access. Hopefully, this level of effort will
serve as an introduction John P. Davis.
I viewed Oprah Winfrey’s legend ball on ABC and I thought - I
lived my life surrounded by legends in my family circle, my
church circle and my community circle. I am honored and
privileged to come from a legacy of legends. My grandfather's
vision for fair and sustainable growth for all people - is apart of
my own worked with Global Latitudes
In 1943 the first lawsuit challenging segregated schools in the nation’s
capital was brought in my dad’s name, Michael D. Davis by my
grandfather, John P. Davis. The Washington Star was sharply
critical of an African American lawyer legally challenging the
District Dual school system when the principal of Noyes School
refused to admit my dad at the age of 5-years old. The Washington Star
paper said the District citizens had long accepted separate schools for
blacks and whites and that the suit brought by John P. Davis would
cause even deeper divisions in the nation’s capital.
The U.S. Congress in response to my grandfather's suit appropriated federal
funds to construct the Lucy D. Slowe elementary school directly across the
street from his Brookland home.
Ralph McGill, the “Conscious of the South” Publisher of the Atlanta
Constitution, hired my father Mike Davis as the first African-American reporter in the
early sixties. This was at a time when you could count the number of African-American
reporters covering big assignments on white- owned papers on the fingers
of one hand. Ralph McGill became his mentor and friend.
Black women had never served in the United States Navy and in 1917,
my great-grandfather, Dr. William H. Davis, convinced Secretary Baker
to establish the first Navy office staffed by black women. The 16 black
Yeomanettes, who were enlisted personnel and wore official U.S. Navy
uniforms, worked in the Muster Roll division at Washington's Navy Yard
under the command of John T. Risher, a member of the city's African-American
middle class. They were responsible for tracking the movement of war ships
and the Navy men who sailed them and assuring that their benefits and
paychecks were paid on time.
The 16 members of the African-American Yeomanettes included several
women from Washington's middle class African-American families,
Catalina Boyd, Josie Washington and Ruth Osbourne, who would become
the grandmother of President William Jefferson Clinton's Secretary of Commerce,
Ronald Harmon Brown. My great-granfather, William Davis was especially proud
of his nineteen-year-old daughter, Yeomanette Sara Louise Davis. Aunt Sara went
on to attend Simmons College and Howard University. She obtained a Masters in
social work and loved to talk about her personal mentor E. Franklin Frazier.
Rachel Davis Harris was the first African American woman library department
director in Kentucky. She was the children's librarian at the Louisville Western
Colored Branch Library and later became the manager of the Eastern Colored
Branch Library. Aunt Rachel also assisted with the development of Georgetown
Colored Library (KY) and the Lincoln Institute Library. Aunt Rachel was a colleague
of Thomas Fountain Blue, and when he died in 1935, she became the new director
of the Louisville Public Library Colored Department.
Alice Watkins Garrett was the first African American Dental graduate
of Howard University Dental School. Aunt Alice was my paternal great-great aunt.
Both my dad and I had a child’s -eye view of some of America’s most powerful
people when they were at leisure, with their guards down, away from the glaring
spotlights of media and public forums. Dad fished for sea bass, flounder and
porgies off Montauk Point with Ralph Bunche Jr, and Adam Clayton Powell Jr.;
Langston Hughes edited one of his obligatory “: summer experiences” essays.
Lena Horne sung him to sleep.
Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, my grandfather’s friend, entertained me on summer
weekends at the age of 80 + in 1981. I watched Dr. Dorothy Height jump for joy
in 2001 when she found out I was Johnny’s child. I saw Das Boot with President
Jimmy Carter in 1983 in a Buckhead Theater in Atlanta, GA. My first foreign film
experience. My mentor was the first African-American Mayor of Atlanta, Ga,
Maynard Holbrook Jackson, who never failed to request me to recite a recent
oratorical win. I loved and respected Bunny (Bernice) and Dexter’s mom,
Corretta Scott King. I relished the memory that my mom, Dollie Davis,
took me to Dr. King’s funeral.
A legacy of legends - and So I smile at the opportunity to share my legacy of
legends with you.
We are working at warp speed to ensure you have the online access to articles,
picture, and documents of John P. Davis. We remain focused on our commitment
to sharing as much information as possible. Our mission is collaborative to the core,
appropriate to the audience, on time and with love. Please read and enjoy, if you
have any questions submit a scholar's inquiry or contact us as info@johnpdaviscollection.org.
