John Aubrey Davis Sr. (May 10, 1912 – December 17, 2002) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

professor and activist of 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 in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. He served as the head academic researcher on the historic ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

'' (1954) case, in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation of public schools, including universities, was unconstitutional. He had taught at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

Lincoln University of Pennsylvania Lincoln University (LU) is a public state-related historically black university (HBCU) near Oxford, Pennsylvania. Founded as the private Ashmun Institute in 1854, it has been a public institution since 1972 and was the United States' first deg ...

, and became chair of the department of political science at City University in New York.

Early life, education and marriage

Davis was born in the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area in 1912 to John Abraham Davis and Gabrielle Dorothy (Beale) Davis. He and his two older siblings (anthropologist Allison Davis and sister Dorothy Davis Lucas) were raised on a farm in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. They attended and graduated from

Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) Paul Laurence Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Washington, D.C. The school was America's first public high school for black students. The school is located in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, two ...

, a top academic high school for black students, which their father had also attended. Like his older brother Allison, Davis attended

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, where he graduated in 1933. Upon graduation from Williams, he continued in postgraduate studies, earning a master's degree in political science from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1934, and a doctorate degree in political science from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1949. Davis married Mavis Wormley. They had two sons together, John A. Davis Jr. and Smith W. Davis.

Academic career

Davis taught at

in the mid-1930s and after receiving his doctorate. He later was selected for a position as a full professor in political science at

Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) Lincoln University (LU) is a public state-related historically black university (HBCU) near Oxford, Pennsylvania. Founded as the private Ashmun Institute in 1854, it has been a public institution since 1972 and was the United States' first deg ...

, a historically black college. In 1953, Davis was named an associate professor at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. There he was promoted to professor of government in the graduate faculty, and then to chairman of the department of political science at City University.

Civil rights work

Davis had become active in civil rights in 1933, when he formed the New Negro Alliance with

Belford Lawson Jr. Belford Vance Lawson Jr. (July 9, 1901 – February 23, 1985) was an American attorney and civil rights activist who made at least eight appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first African-American man to win a case before the Su ...

and M. Franklin Thorne. They challenged a white-owned business operating in African-American neighborhoods of Washington, DC that fired black workers to replace them with white, although most of their customers were black. To protest this practice, the Alliance organized the "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" campaign in the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, calling for boycotts and picketing of these businesses by neighborhood customers. Most businesses, afraid of losing revenue in a shaky economic period, caved in to the protests. Others fought back and sought an injunction against the group. Initially, the lower courts sided with the businesses, but the case reached the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, which in 1938 sided with The Alliance. Future

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme ...

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

represented The Alliance in the case, which was known as '' New Negro Alliance vs. Sanitary Grocery Company Inc.''. In the process, he formed a close lifelong friendship with Davis. In 1953, Marshall appointed Davis to head the academic research task force for the historic ''

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

'' case. Working with a team of more than 200 scholars, who included

Horace Mann Bond Horace Mann Bond (November 8, 1904 – December 21, 1972) was an American historian, college administrator, social science researcher and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond. He earned a master's and doctorate from University of Ch ...

(father of

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the e ...

, a future NAACP president), historian C. Vann Woodward, William Robert Ming Jr., Alfred Kelly, and historian

John Hope Franklin John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Histo ...

, Davis compiled the factual evidence that was presented in Marshall's arguments against the "separate but equal" doctrine, proving that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited racial discrimination.Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas - "With an Even Hand": Brown v. Board at Fifty (Library of Congress Exhibition)
Loc.gov. Retrieved on 2009-02-02. Following this project, Davis was appointed in 1957 to the New York State Commission on Discrimination by Gov. W. Averell Harriman.

Later years

After years in Washington, DC, Davis lived in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

while teaching at City University. He retired in 1980 and later moved to

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

. He died there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, John Aubrey Sr. Activists for African-American civil rights Williams College alumni Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Howard University faculty City University of New York faculty Nonviolence advocates 1912 births 2002 deaths City College of New York faculty Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni