Allison Davis
Encyclopedia
William Boyd Allison Davis (October 14, 1902 – November 21, 1983) was an educator, anthropologist, writer, researcher, and scholar. He was considered one of the most promising black scholars of his generation, and became the first African-American to hold a full faculty position at a major white university when he joined the staff of the University of Chicago
in 1942, where he would spend the balance of his academic life. Among his students during his tenure at the University of Chicago were anthropologist St. Clair Drake
and sociologist Nathan Hare
. Davis, who has been honored with a commemorative postage stamp by the United States Postal Service, is best remembered for his pioneering anthropology research on southern race and class
during the 1930s, his research on intelligence quotient in the 1940s and 50’s, and his support of “compensatory education
” that contributed to the intellectual genesis of the federal program Head Start.
. Davis’s grandfather had been an abolitionist lawyer. His father led a group of seventeen white clerks as the head of a government printing office before his demotion under the policies of the Wilson
administration, and chaired the anti-lynching committee of Washington D.C.'s chapter of the NAACP. Davis would describe him as a “brave man” who was “already marked in a town of 236 citizens” as a large landowner who “further angered whites by registering and voting.”
Allison Davis entered Washington D.C.’s segregated Dunbar High School in 1916 and, like his father before him, graduated as its valedictorian. The school had been founded almost a half-century before, making it the nation’s oldest public black high school, and had since developed a reputation that pulled black families to the nation’s capital for the chief purpose of gaining residency within the school district. Bucking national trends, the school had settled firmly in the Du Bois camp during the debates on black education a few years before and offered a rigorous college preparatory curriculum that included Greek and Latin.
Though the quality of black colleges would steadily increase through the mid-century, at the time of Davis’s graduation most black “colleges” were still teaching primary and secondary curricula; the ticket to the white post-graduate program was most often through the white university. Between 1916 and 1922, Dunbar sent sixteen students to the Ivy League, Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan. Williams College
had a singular arrangement with Dunbar that allotted one full merit-based scholarship per year to the valedictorian. From this agreement Williams derived its entire black cohort and in 1920 drew Davis into its ranks.
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1942, where he would spend the balance of his academic life. Among his students during his tenure at the University of Chicago were anthropologist St. Clair Drake
St. Clair Drake
St. Clair Drake was an African-American sociologist and anthropologist.Drake was born in Suffolk, Virginia. Upon graduation from Hampton Institute in 1931, he became involved with The Society of Friends in the south...
and sociologist Nathan Hare
Nathan Hare
Nathan Hare was the first person hired to coordinate a black studies program in the United States, at San Francisco State University in 1968.-Early life and education:...
. Davis, who has been honored with a commemorative postage stamp by the United States Postal Service, is best remembered for his pioneering anthropology research on southern race and class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
during the 1930s, his research on intelligence quotient in the 1940s and 50’s, and his support of “compensatory education
Compensatory Education
Compensatory education offers supplementary programs or services designed to help children at risk of cognitive impairment and low educational achievement reach their full potential.-Children at risk:...
” that contributed to the intellectual genesis of the federal program Head Start.
Family history
Born in 1902 to John Abraham and Gabrielle Davis, William Boyd Allison Davis, who would later be known only as Allison Davis, entered into family well-acquainted with both achievement and activism. He was the oldest of three children with a younger sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, John Aubrey Davis, Sr.John Aubrey Davis, Sr.
Dr. John Aubrey Davis, Sr. was an African American political science professor and American Civil Rights activist who served as the head academic researcher on the historic Brown v. Board of Education case.-Civil rights work:...
. Davis’s grandfather had been an abolitionist lawyer. His father led a group of seventeen white clerks as the head of a government printing office before his demotion under the policies of the Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
administration, and chaired the anti-lynching committee of Washington D.C.'s chapter of the NAACP. Davis would describe him as a “brave man” who was “already marked in a town of 236 citizens” as a large landowner who “further angered whites by registering and voting.”
Education
Allison Davis's path to the university faculty was possible largely because of his academic achievements that preceded it, many of which were entirely unavailable to most African-Americans at the turn of the centuryAllison Davis entered Washington D.C.’s segregated Dunbar High School in 1916 and, like his father before him, graduated as its valedictorian. The school had been founded almost a half-century before, making it the nation’s oldest public black high school, and had since developed a reputation that pulled black families to the nation’s capital for the chief purpose of gaining residency within the school district. Bucking national trends, the school had settled firmly in the Du Bois camp during the debates on black education a few years before and offered a rigorous college preparatory curriculum that included Greek and Latin.
Though the quality of black colleges would steadily increase through the mid-century, at the time of Davis’s graduation most black “colleges” were still teaching primary and secondary curricula; the ticket to the white post-graduate program was most often through the white university. Between 1916 and 1922, Dunbar sent sixteen students to the Ivy League, Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan. Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
had a singular arrangement with Dunbar that allotted one full merit-based scholarship per year to the valedictorian. From this agreement Williams derived its entire black cohort and in 1920 drew Davis into its ranks.