Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-

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Activist, author, and professor, Angela Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on January 26, 1944, the daughter of two teachers. Active at an early age in the Black Panthers and the Communist Party, Davis also formed an interracial study group and volunteered for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee while still in high school. At fifteen, after earning a scholarship, Davis traveled to New York to complete high school. In 1960, Davis traveled to Germany to study for two years, and then to the University of Paris for another year. After returning to the United States, Davis attended Brandeis University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1965. Davis then returned to Germany for further study before enrolling in the University of California, San Diego, where she earned her M.A. degree in 1968.

Upon earning her master's degree, Davis became an assistant professor at UCSD, but due to her connections with the Panthers and the Communist Party, she was removed a year later. Following her dismissal, Davis worked to free the Soledad Prison Brothers and befriended an inmate, George Jackson. In August of 1970, Jackson and several other inmates attempted to escape from the Marin County Courthouse, and a judge and three others were killed. Davis was quickly put on the FBI's most wanted list, despite the fact that she was not at the crime scene, and was apprehended in New York. After spending eighteen months in jail during her trial, Davis was acquitted in 1972. While in prison, Davis wrote her first book,If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance, entirely by hand. After her acquittal, Governor Ronald Reagan vowed she would never teach in California again, but nevertheless, she was immediately hired by San Francisco State University, where she stayed for another twelve years. Entering the political ring, Davis ran on the Communist Party ticket as vice president in 1980 and 1984. When the Soviet Union began to fall apart, however, Davis gave up communism. Davis continued to teach in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Davis toured across the United States and the world lecturing on prison reform, and served on the advisory board of the Prison Activist Resource Center. Davis also co-founded the Committees of Correspondence, an organization that seeks to unite all socialist groups in the United States.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Andreĭ Sakharov papers, 1852-2002 (inclusive), 1960-1990 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Sound Recordings of Meetings and Telephone Conversations (Nixon Administration). 2/16/1971 - 7/18/1973. Sound Recordings of Meetings and Telephone Conversations. 2/16/1971 - 7/18/1973. Oval Office tape number 728 Richard Nixon Library
referencedIn Eugene Gordon papers, 1927-1972 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2220-Sub A-6 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2220-Sub A-5 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [Newspaper Clippings] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Black Panther printed ephemera, ca., 1966-2006. Houghton Library
referencedIn Arnold S. Kaufman papers, 1954-1971 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn National Lawyers Guild Records, 1936-1999 Bancroft Library
referencedIn 1970 Campaign Speeches and Releases - North [09/01/1970-10/31/1970] Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.3 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Atlanta, [Georgia] - 157-4901-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Proposed march from Eutaw, AL to Montgomery, AL, 3/29-4/2/71, in support of Angela Davis and other political prisoners, sponsored by Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF)/Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.10 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.8 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Biography Collection MS 393., 1771-1995, 1920-1970 Sophia Smith Collection
referencedIn Guide to the James E. Jackson and Esther Cooper Jackson Photographs Collection, 1910-1995 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn WFO, [Washington, DC] - 157-614-v.5 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Marion Barry -- Stokely Carmichael -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Factoids 1993: Daisy Bates William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
referencedIn Charlotte, [North Carolina] - 157-7895-1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [March and Rally Protesting Arrest of Angela Davis] -- National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Kate Millett papers, 1912-2002 and undated, bulk 1951-2001 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.5 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Marlon Riggs Collection, 1957-1994 Cecil H. Green Library. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Press Releases - 08/01/1972-08/15/1972 Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State. 1788 - 1991. Unclassified Central Subject Files National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Guide to the Reference Center for Marxist Studies Pamphlet Collection, 1900-2004 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-Sub A-2 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [Newspaper Clippings] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn San Diego, [California] - 157-692-v.4 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Yvonne Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Leonard Weinglass Papers, 1960s-2011 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Various Clips on 1994 Crime Bill - ’93 Spring to ’94 summer [Editorials/Op-Eds] [1] William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
referencedIn Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Negatives Collection, 1930-2001 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Women's International League for Peace and Freedom records, circa 1965-1977 Oregon Historical Society Research Library
referencedIn WFO, [Washington, DC] - 157-1615-v.25 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Republic of New Africa Program/Workshop, Jackson, MS. 8/16-17/74 -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Communist Party of the United States of America Audio Collection, Bulk, 1965-1989, 1920s - 1999 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn CBS NEWS National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Wellek Library Lectures Bibliographic Database entry for Angela Davis University of California, Irvine. Library. Department of Special Collections
referencedIn Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
creatorOf Angela Davis Legal defense collection, 1970-1972 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section
referencedIn Jordan, June, 1936-2002. Audio collection of June Jordan [sound recording]. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Political Newspapers Collection, 1953-1994, bulk 1969-1992 California State University, Dominguez Hills Archives and Special Collections
referencedIn Charlotte, [North Carolina] - 157-9580-1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [Angela Davis] -- National Archives at College Park
referencedIn 44-50522, Section 1 Serials 1-5, California, New York (1971-1972) "Soledad Brothers," George C. Jackson; Angela Davis; L. Patrick Gray National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Guide to the James E. Jackson and Esther Cooper Jackson Papers, 1917-2018 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn WFO, [Washington, DC] - 157-4189-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- New Haven Committee to Defend Angela Davis -- Black Panther Party National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.7 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn [FBI Headquarters] - 157-19609 v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] - Black People in Defense of Angela Yvonne Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.4 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Issue Papers - Regents [University of California] Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings, 1968-1982 Bancroft Library
referencedIn Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, December 3, 1970 Gerald R. Ford Library
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2220-Sub A-7 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [Newspaper Clippings] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Antioch Review mss., 1940-2007 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
referencedIn Bobbye S. Ortiz Papers, (bulk, 1919-1993 and undated, 1950-1990) David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
referencedIn Central Intelligence Agency (2 of 2) Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Black Women in the Academy: Defending Our Name, 1894-1994 conference records Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries
referencedIn Guide to the Marilyn Albert Communist Party of the United States of America Papers, 1947-1992 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Guide to the Communist Party of the United States of America Records, 1892-2009 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.9 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn CRLA - Press Clippings, May 1971 (2 of 6) Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn JGR/Twenty-Fifth Amendment (5 of 8) Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn San Diego, [California] - 157-692-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Yvonne Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Bettina Aptheker Papers, 1944-2006, (Bulk 1965-1990) University of California, Santa Cruz. . University Library Special Collections and Archives
referencedIn Cincinnati, [Ohio] - 157-5136-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [newspaper Clippings] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn San Diego, [California] - 157-692-v.2 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Yvonne Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Luther Russell Herman Jr. Papers, 1966-1978 North Carolina State University. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Atlanta, [Georgia] - 157-5830-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Yvonne Davis -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn CRLA - Press Clippings, May 1971 (1 of 6) Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn Jackson, [Mississippi] - 157-13900-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Black United Front Proposed Demonstration to Free Angela Davis and Other Confined Negroes at Free the Prisoners Day Program -- Jackson, MS National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-1A [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
creatorOf Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-. Angela Davis collection, 1962-1975. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
referencedIn Doing Time collection, 1972-1980 The University of New Mexico, University Libraries, Center for SouthwestResearch
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2220-Sub A-3 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2220-Sub A-4 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Classification 157 (Civil Unrest) Case Files, 1957 - 1978 National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State. 1788 - 1991. Unclassified Central Subject Files National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Records of, Sojourner, (inclusive), (bulk), 1920-2004, 1975-2002 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Michael Kelly Political Campaign Ephemera Collection Gerald R. Ford Library
referencedIn Jackson, [Mississippi] - 157-15790-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Freddie Louis Bell, Angela Davis Liberation Party, Dallas, TX National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.6 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Press Briefing Memos (2) Ronald Reagan Library
referencedIn Angela Davis Academic Freedom Case & Trial and Defense Movement, 1969-1972 Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research.
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-Sub A-1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [Newspaper Clippings] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Baltimore, [Maryland] - 157-5202-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Yvonne Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn WFO, [Washington, DC] - 157-1383-v.3 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Stokely Carmichael -- Committee to Free Angela Davis -- Student Mobilization Committee National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Charlotte, [North Carolina] - 157-8039-1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [Free Angela Davis Rally] -- National Archives at College Park
referencedIn WFO, [Washington, DC] - 157-4160-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- The Freedom for Angela (Davis) Committee -- Angela Davis -- Young Socialist Alliance National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Police Week and Memorial [2] William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
referencedIn Donald T. Carlson papers, 1952-1995 Cecil H. Green Library. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Director's Records, 1938 - 1973 National Archives at San Francisco
referencedIn J. B. Matthews Papers, 1862-1986 and undated David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
referencedIn Douglas Menuez photography collection, 1986-2006 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Africa Project Videotape collection, 1985-1989 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Inventory of The Angela Davis Collection: Area Studies/Africana MSS 00238., 1971, n.d. (Bulk: January, 1971) Cushing Memorial Library,
referencedIn San Diego, [California] - 157-692-v.3 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Yvonne Davis National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-2325-v.2 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Angela Davis National Archives at College Park
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf The HistoryMakers Video Oral History with Angela Davis The HistoryMakers
Relation Name
associatedWith Adler, Harold. person
associatedWith Alabama. Legislature. Commission to Preserve the Peace. corporateBody
associatedWith Albert, Marilyn person
associatedWith Angela Davis Legal Defense Fund corporateBody
associatedWith Aptheker, Bettina person
associatedWith Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America corporateBody
associatedWith Black Women in the Academy: Defending Our Name, 1894-1994 (1994 : Cambridge, Mass.) corporateBody
associatedWith Bobby Seale person
associatedWith Bond, Julian, 1940- person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Brandeis University corporateBody
associatedWith Butler, Judith, 1956- person
associatedWith California State University, Dominguez Hills corporateBody
associatedWith Carl Hanser Verlag corporateBody
associatedWith Carlson, Donald T. person
associatedWith Catlett, Elizabeth Mora., 1919- person
associatedWith Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico corporateBody
founderOf Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (U.S.). corporateBody
memberOf Communist Party of the United States of America. corporateBody
associatedWith Communist Party of Venezuela person
associatedWith Davies, Diana, 1938- person
associatedWith Davis Defense Fund person
associatedWith Dawes, Gil, 1933- person
associatedWith Felver, Christopher, 1946- person
associatedWith Fleeta Drumgo person
associatedWith George Jackson person
associatedWith Gordon, Eugene, 1891-1974. person
associatedWith Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata, 1949- person
associatedWith Herman, Luther Russell, Jr. person
associatedWith Higgs, DeWitt A., 1907- person
associatedWith Huey Newton person
associatedWith Jackson, Esther Cooper person
associatedWith Jackson, George, 1941-1971. person
associatedWith Jackson, James E., 1914-2007. person
associatedWith John Clutchette person
associatedWith John Conyers person
associatedWith John Irwin person
associatedWith Johnson, Robert Pierre, 1914-1974. person
associatedWith Jordan, June, 1936-2002. person
associatedWith Kalish, Donald. person
associatedWith Kaufman, Arnold S. (Arnold Saul), 1927-1971. person
associatedWith Kaufmann, Walter, 1933- . person
associatedWith Kilpatrick, James Jackson, 1920-2010. person
associatedWith Lamaina, Susanna Lucia, person
associatedWith Leary, Mary Ellen. person
associatedWith Magee, Ruchell person
associatedWith Margaret Burnham person
associatedWith Marshall, Alice Kahler, person
associatedWith Marx, Karl, 1818-1883 person
associatedWith Matthews, J. B. (Joseph Brown), 1894-1966 person
associatedWith McDaniel, Thelma. person
associatedWith Menuez, Doug person
associatedWith Michigan State University. Library. American Radicalism Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith Millett, Kate person
associatedWith Molfese, John, person
associatedWith NAACP Legal Defense Fund corporateBody
associatedWith National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith National Conference of Black Lawyers person
associatedWith National Lawyers Guild corporateBody
associatedWith National Union of Mexican Women person
associatedWith National United Committee to Free Davis and All Political Prisoners corporateBody
associatedWith Neigh, Kenneth Glenn, 1908-1996. person
associatedWith New York Committee to Free Angela Davis corporateBody
associatedWith Ortiz, Bobbye S. person
associatedWith Pacht, Jerry. person
correspondedWith Parks, Rosa, 1913-2005. person
associatedWith Patterson, William L. (William Lorenzo), 1890-1980. person
associatedWith Peña, Olga, 1925- person
associatedWith Poindexter person
associatedWith Presbyterian Church person
associatedWith Reference Center for Marxist Studies. corporateBody
associatedWith Riggs, Marlon. person
associatedWith Ritz, Rosalie person
associatedWith Rivers, Charles, ca. 1905-1993. person
associatedWith Said, Edward W., 1935-2003 person
associatedWith Sakharov, Andreĭ, 1921-1989 person
employeeOf San Francisco State University corporateBody
associatedWith Shames, Stephen. person
associatedWith Sojourner (Cambridge, Mass.) corporateBody
associatedWith Soledad Brothers. corporateBody
associatedWith Soledad Correctional Training Facility. corporateBody
associatedWith Timothy, Mary. person
associatedWith United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly. Moderator (1971-1972 : Stair) corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Universität Frankfurt am Main. corporateBody
associatedWith University of California at Los Angeles corporateBody
participantIn University of California, Irvine. Wellek Library lectures at the University of California, Irvine corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf University of California, San Diego corporateBody
associatedWith University of California, Santa Cruz. History of Consciousness Dept. corporateBody
associatedWith Vasillov, Magda 1934-2006. person
associatedWith Vignes, Michelle. person
associatedWith Walker, Alice, 1944- person
associatedWith Walter E. Fauntroy person
associatedWith Weinglass, Leonard person
associatedWith Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Portland branch. corporateBody
associatedWith Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.Portland branch. corporateBody
associatedWith Women's School (Cambridge, Mass.) corporateBody
associatedWith WOMEN'S VIDEO COLLECTIVE (Cambridge, Mass.) corporateBody
associatedWith Yee, Min S. person
associatedWith Young Women's Christian Association of the U.S.A. National Board. National Public Affairs Committee. corporateBody
associatedWith Zweig, Martha person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Birmingham AL US
Subject
African American communists
African Americans
African American women political activists
Critical theory
Feminism
Imprisonment
Marxism
Political activists
Political prisoners
Punishment
Trials (Conspiracy)
Occupation
Activist
Authors
Civil Rights Activist
Civil rights workers
College teachers
History Professor
Political activists
Professor
Activity

Person

Birth 1944-01-26

Female

Americans

English

Information

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SNAC ID: 87817698