Abraham Lincoln Davis Jr. (1914 – June 24, 1978) was an American minister and leader in the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. He led voting drives and advocated for

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. In 1975, Davis became the first African American member of the

New Orleans City Council The New Orleans City Council is the legislative branch of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The current mayor-council form of city government was created in 1954, following the 1950 amendment of the state constitution that provide ...

since the Reconstruction era.

Early life

Davis was from Bayou Goula, Louisiana. His father was a Baptist minister. He moved to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and graduated from

McDonogh 35 High School McDonogh 35 Senior High School is a charter public high school in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a part of New Orleans Public Schools and InspireNOLA charter operator. The school was named after John McDonogh.Woyshner and Bohan, "Introduction." ...

. He was ordained as the minister at the New Zion Baptist Church in New Orleans in 1935. He earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from Leland College in 1949 and earned an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Union Baptist Theological Seminary.

Civil rights movement

Davis became involved in the

. In January 1957, he cofounded the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civ ...

(SCLC) with

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

and others in his church. King served as the president of the SCLC, while Davis was vice president. The Louisiana Leadership Conference, a satellite organization of the SCLC, was formed in March 1957, with Davis and T. J. Jemison elected as its co-chairs. Associated with the SCLC, they conducted voting registration drives for African Americans. Davis became involved in

progressive politics Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...

; he supported

DeLesseps Story Morrison deLesseps Story Morrison Sr., also known as Chep Morrison (January 18, 1912 – May 22, 1964), was an American attorney and politician who was the 54th mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1946 to 1961. He then served as an appointee of U.S. ...

, the

mayor of New Orleans The post of Mayor of the City of New Orleans (french: Maire de La Nouvelle-Orléans) has been held by the following individuals since New Orleans came under American administration following the Louisiana Purchase — the acquisition by the U.S. ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Robert F. Kennon, and Congressman

Hale Boggs Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. (February 15, 1914 – disappeared October 16, 1972; declared dead December 29, 1972) was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the House ma ...

. He opposed

Earl Long Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and the 45th governor of Louisiana, serving three nonconsecutive terms. Long, known as "Uncle Earl", connected with voters through his folksy demeanor and c ...

, leading a faction of anti-Long Democrats. In 1961, Morrison named Davis the first director of race relations for the city.

John McKeithen John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918 – June 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of Louisiana from 1964 to 1972. Early life McKeithen was born in Grayson, Louisiana on May 28, 1918. His father was a ...

appointed Davis to a committee on race relations. Morrison's successor, Victor H. Schiro, resisted desegregation, and Davis led a march of 7,000 to 10,000 on city hall on September 30, 1963. Later that week, he presented a list of demands to the

. He and Reverend

Avery Alexander Avery Caesar Alexander (June 29, 1910 – March 5, 1999) was an American civil rights leader and politician. He graduated from Union Baptist Theological Seminary and was ordained into the Baptist ministry in 1944. He was elected to the Louisian ...

were arrested at a sit-in at city hall in November and he continued to organize a sit-in in city hall's cafeteria and outside the mayor's office, with people getting arrested daily. The campaign was halted after 47 were arrested, including members of the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...

, before Davis and Alexander got to meet with Schiro. Ultimately, the group was able to win some progress on their demands, but not on all of them.

Political career

Davis ran for the Louisiana House of Representatives in the 1967 elections. He lost the December runoff election against incumbent Eugene O'Brien, receiving 4,324 votes to O'Brien's 4,442 votes. In 1975, Davis and Jim Singleton were put forward as replacement candidates to represent District B on the New Orleans City Council, following the resignation of

Eddie Sapir Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

to serve as a city judge. Davis won the appointment by a 6–1 vote. He became the first African American to serve on the New Orleans City Council since the Reconstruction era. Davis won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the remainder of Sapir's term in October 1976, but lost the 1977 election for a new term to Singleton.

Personal life

Davis had a daughter. He died on June 24, 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Abraham Lincoln 1914 births 1978 deaths New Orleans City Council members Activists for African-American civil rights African-American Baptist ministers Baptist ministers from the United States African-American activists Louisiana Democrats People from Iberville Parish, Louisiana Activists from Louisiana