Abraham Lincoln Davis | |
|---|---|
| Member of theNew Orleans City Council | |
| In office 1975–1977 | |
| Preceded by | Eddie Sapir |
| Succeeded by | Jim Singleton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1914[1] |
| Died | June 24, 1978(1978-06-24) (aged 63–64) |
| Political party | Democratic[2] |
Abraham Lincoln Davis Jr. (1914 – June 24, 1978) was an American minister and leader in thecivil rights movement. He led voting drives and advocated fordesegregation inNew Orleans,Louisiana. In 1975, Davis became the first African American member of theNew Orleans City Council since theReconstruction era.
Davis was fromBayou Goula, Louisiana. His father was a Baptist minister.[3] He moved toNew Orleans and graduated fromMcDonogh 35 High School.[2][4] He was ordained as the minister at the New Zion Baptist Church in New Orleans in 1935. He earned hisBachelor of Arts fromLeland College in 1949 and earned an honoraryDoctor of Divinity from theUnion Baptist Theological Seminary.[2]
Davis became involved in thecivil rights movement. In January 1957, he cofounded theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) withMartin Luther King Jr. and others in his church.[5] King served as the president of the SCLC, while Davis was vice president.[5] The Louisiana Leadership Conference, a satellite organization of the SCLC, was formed in March 1957, with Davis andT. J. Jemison elected as its co-chairs. Associated with the SCLC, they conducted voting registration drives for African Americans.[6]
Davis became involved inprogressive politics; he supportedDeLesseps Story Morrison, themayor of New Orleans,GovernorRobert F. Kennon, andCongressmanHale Boggs. He opposedEarl Long, leading a faction of anti-LongDemocrats.[2] In 1961, Morrison named Davis the first director of race relations for the city.[7]GovernorJohn McKeithen appointed Davis to a committee on race relations.[8]
Morrison's successor,Victor H. Schiro, resisted desegregation, and Davis led a march of 7,000 to 10,000 oncity hall on September 30, 1963.[9][10] Later that week, he presented a list of demands to theNew Orleans City Council.[11] He and ReverendAvery Alexander were arrested at asit-in at city hall in November[12] and he continued to organize a sit-in in city hall's cafeteria and outside the mayor's office, with people getting arrested daily.[13] The campaign was halted after 47 were arrested, including members of theCongress of Racial Equality,[14] before Davis and Alexander got to meet with Schiro.[15] Ultimately, the group was able to win some progress on their demands, but not on all of them.[16]
Davis ran for theLouisiana House of Representatives in the 1967 elections.[17] He lost the Decemberrunoff election against incumbent Eugene O'Brien, receiving 4,324 votes to O'Brien's 4,442 votes.[18]
In 1975, Davis andJim Singleton were put forward as replacement candidates to represent District B on the New Orleans City Council, following the resignation ofEddie Sapir 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 theReconstruction era.[19] Davis won aspecial election for the remainder of Sapir's term in October 1976,[20] but lost the 1977 election for a new term to Singleton.[21]
Davis had a daughter.[8] He died on June 24, 1978.[5]
