Frank Marshall Davis
| Frank Marshall Davis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
December 31, 1905 Arkansas City, Kansas, United States |
| Died | July 26, 1987 (aged 81) Honolulu, Hawaii, United States |
| Occupation | Journalist, poet |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Social realism |
| Subject | Race relations, music, literature, American culture |
| Literary movement | Social realism |
Frank Marshall Davis (December 31, 1905 – July 26, 1987) was an American journalist, poet, political and labor movement activist, and businessman.
Davis began his career writing for African-American newspapers in Chicago. He moved to Atlanta, where he became the editor of the paper he turned into the Atlanta Daily World. He later returned to Chicago. During this time, he was outspoken about political and social issues, while also covering topics that ranged from sports to music. His poetry was sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs. He also played a role in the South Side Writers Group in Chicago, and is considered among the writers of the Black Chicago Renaissance.
In the late 1940s, Davis moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he ran a small business. He became involved in local labor issues. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracked his activities as they had investigated union activists since the early 20th century. Davis died in 1987 in Hawaii.
Davis was born in Arkansas City, Kansas, in 1905. His parents divorced, and Davis grew up living with his mother and stepfather, and with his maternal grandparents. In 1923, at age 17, he attended Friends University. From 1924 to 1927, and again in 1929, he attended Kansas State Agricultural College, now Kansas State University.
When Davis entered Kansas State, twenty-five other African-American students were enrolled. Kansas was segregated by custom, if not by law. Davis studied industrial journalism. He began to write poems as the result of a class assignment, and was encouraged by an English literature instructor to continue his poetry writing. Davis pledged Phi Beta Sigma fraternity in 1925. He left college before getting a degree.
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