Dempsey Travis (February 25, 1920 – July 2, 2009) was a real estate entrepreneur and
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
activist who, later in life, became a prominent historian and author, writing extensively on
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
history, politics, social issues, and music.
Early years and education
Dempsey Jerome Travis was born in 1920 in
Chicago, IL, and served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
from 1942 to 1946, before earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from
Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The unive ...
in 1949.
[Dempsey Travis Biography]
The Historymakers, Interview date 1-11-2000.
Businessman
As an entrepreneur, Travis sought to revitalize African-American neighborhoods in Chicago. Travis Realty Company, which he founded in 1949, and Sivart Mortgage Company, which he founded four years later, increased the availability of mortgages for African Americans. Together, the two companies worked to sell properties located in the Chicago area to African Americans who were being displaced by urban renewal projects. In 1961, Travis founded the United Mortgage Bankers of America and served as its president until 1974. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Travis served on President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
’s Housing Task Force and President
Gerald Ford’s Task Force on Urban Renewal.
[Dempsey Travis Papers]
Roosevelt University Library, Chicago Illinois.
Activist
Travis was also involved with 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 ...
, and while serving as president of the
NAACP Chicago chapter in 1959 he coordinated
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 ...
's first civil rights march in Chicago on July 24, 1960.
Author
Travis’ career as an author began when he founded Urban Research Institute, later renamed Urban Research Press, in 1969. The Press was initially established to publish two studies on socioeconomic issues affecting urban African Americans, but later evolved into a literary press, publishing 21 of Travis’ books. Travis’s first book was the children’s book, ''Don’t Stop Me Now'' (1970). In 1981, he wrote ''An Autobiography of Black Chicago'' and became the first African-American author to have a book listed on the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' non-fiction bestsellers list. Travis would later publish ''An Autobiography of Black Jazz'' (1983) These three books exemplify Travis’ writing style, which weaves historical research and information gathered from in-depth interviews with biographical anecdotes. Travis also published ''An Autobiography of Black Politics'' (1987), ''The Victory Monument'', ''I Refuse to Learn to Fail'', and ''Views from the Back of the Bus''.
Dempsey Travis author search
at abebooks.com, retrieved December 29, 2013.
Honors and awards
Travis is listed in ''Who’s Who in America'', ''Who’s Who in Finance and Industry'', and ''Who’s Who in the World''. He was also listed among the "People Who Have Made a Difference" by the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' and was one of ''Ebony''’s "100 Most Influential Black Americans". He was also the subject of numerous television programs: five of these shows have received Emmy nominations. He also received ''Black Enterprise
''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl ...
'' magazine’s "First Annual Finance Achievement Award" on February 21, 1975.
Archival collections
The Dempsey Travis Papers exist in three locations: Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The unive ...
Library, Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the ...
Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection, and Chicago History Museum
Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the int ...
.
The papers showcase Travis’ career as an author, as opposed to his career as a real estate entrepreneur, and contain an extensive collection of interviews with prominent African-American figures in various fields including politics, business, and entertainment. The papers are arranged in series based on individual books, or subject of books, with the majority of series containing edited drafts, transcribed interviews, and general research.
References
External links
Dempsey Travis Papers at Roosevelt University
Dempsey Travis Papers at Chicago Public Library
Dempsey Travis Papers at Chicago History Museum
Demspey J. Travis
at The Historymakers
Dempsey Travis page
at AbeBooks
''Chicago Tribune''
Book Review
"Dempsey J. Travis, 1920-2009: Author, Real-Estate Magnate and Longtime Chicago Activist Businessman"
''Chicago Tribune'', July 3, 2009.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Travis, Dempsey
African-American historians
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Writers from Chicago
Roosevelt University alumni
1920 births
2009 deaths
Historians from Illinois
Academics from Illinois
United States Army personnel of World War II
African Americans in World War II
African-American United States Army personnel