{{Short description|American politician (1903–1964)}} {{about other people|the American Communist leader||Benjamin Davis (disambiguation){{!}}Benjamin Davis}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ben Davis | image = Individuals - Davis, Benjamin J. (Benjamin Jefferson) - Sitting on Desk, Reading. undated Slide 4 Crop Edit Alt.png | alt = | caption = Davis {{circa}} 1962 | office = Member of the New York City Council<br />from Manhattan At-Large | predecessor = Adam Clayton Powell Jr. | successor = ''Constituency abolished'' | term_start = January 1, 1944 | term_end = November 29, 1949 | birth_name = Benjamin Jefferson Davis, Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|09|08}} | birth_place = Dawson, Georgia, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|08|22|1903|09|08}} | death_place = New York, New York, U.S. | party = Communist | occupation = Lawyer, activist, politician | known_for = Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders | education = Amherst College (AB)<br />Harvard University (LLB) }}
'''Benjamin Jefferson Davis Jr.''' (September 8, 1903 – August 22, 1964) was an African-American lawyer and Communist who was elected to the New York City Council in 1943, representing Harlem. He faced increasing opposition from outside Harlem after the end of World War II. In 1949 he was among a number of communist leaders prosecuted for violating the Smith Act. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
==Early years== [[File:The Sub-Committee of Management and Counsel of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (1907-1908).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Benjamin J. Davis Sr. (seated, far right) on the Sub-Committee of Management and Counsel of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, 1908]] Benjamin J. Davis Jr.–known to his friends as "Ben"–was born on September 8, 1903, in Dawson, Georgia to Benjamin Davis Sr. and Jimmie W. Porter.<ref>{{cite book | title=Davis, Benjamin Jefferson, Jr. | publisher=King Institute Stanford}}</ref> The family moved to Atlanta in 1909, where Davis's father, "Big Ben" Davis, established a weekly black newspaper, the ''Atlanta Independent.''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wade |first1=Harold Jr. |title=Black Men of Amherst |date=1976 |publisher=Amherst College Press |page=60}}</ref> It was successful enough to provide a comfortable middle-class upbringing for his family. The elder Benjamin Davis emerged as a prominent black political leader and served as a member of the Republican National Committee for the state of Georgia.<ref name=Stan>[https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/davis-benjamin-jefferson-jr "Benjamin Jefferson Davis Jr."], ''Martin Luther King and the Global Freedom Struggle,'' Stanford University.</ref><ref name=Pat7>William L. Patterson, ''Ben Davis: Crusader for Negro Freedom and Socialism.'' New York: New Century Publishers, 1967; p. 7.</ref>
The younger Ben Davis attended the high school program of Morehouse College in Atlanta.<ref>Benjamin J. Davis, ''Communist Councilman From Harlem''. New York: International Publishers, 1969; p. 32.</ref> He left the South to study at Amherst College, where he earned his B.A. in 1925.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Horne|first1=Gerald|title=Black Liberation/Red Scare: Ben Davis and the Communist Party|page=29}}</ref> Davis continued his education at Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1929. Davis worked briefly as a journalist before starting a law practice in Atlanta in 1932.<ref>Davis, ''Communist Councilman From Harlem'', pp. 44, 48.</ref>
==Political career== [[File:Ben Davis, Jr. 1937 Edit.jpg|thumb|left|Davis as attorney for Angelo Herndon {{circa}} 1937]] Davis became radicalized through his role as defense attorney in the 1933 trial of Angelo Herndon, a 19-year-old black Communist who had been charged with violating a Georgia law against "attempting to incite insurrection", because he tried to organize a farm workers' union. Davis and John H. Geer were hired by the International Labor Defense (ILD) to represent Herndon.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110523001527/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,931575,00.html "Black Red Freed", ''Time'', May 3, 1937.]</ref>. They consulted with the International Juridical Association on their brief to the court.<ref name="ginger"> {{cite book | last = Ginger | first = Ann Fagan | author-link = Ann Fagan Ginger | title = Carol Weiss King, human rights lawyer, 1895-1952 | publisher = University Press of Colorado | location = Boulder | year = 1993 | page = 177 | isbn = 978-0-87081-285-9 | lccn = 92040157 }}</ref> During the trial, Davis faced angry, racist opposition from the judge and public. He was impressed with the rhetoric and bravery of Herndon and his colleagues. After giving concluding arguments, he joined the Communist Party himself.<ref>Davis, ''Communist Councilman From Harlem'', chapter 4.</ref>
Herndon was convicted and sentenced to 18–20 years in jail. He was freed after April 26, 1937, when, by a 5-to-4 margin, the United States Supreme Court ruled Georgia's Insurrection Law to be unconstitutional.<ref>Edward A. Hatfield,[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3700 "Angelo Herndon Case"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815020240/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3700 |date=2012-08-15 }}, ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'', August 14, 2009.</ref>
Davis moved to Harlem, New York in 1935, joining the Great Migration of blacks out of the South to northern cities. He worked as editor of the Communist Party's newspaper targeted to African-Americans, ''The Negro Liberator.'' He later became president of the CPUSA's official English-language daily, the ''Daily Worker.''<ref>{{cite news |title=Masthead |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1146019355/?terms=%22Benjamin%20J.%20Davis%22&match=1 |access-date=16 September 2025 |work=Daily Worker |date=31 May 1948 |location=New York}}</ref>
In 1943, Davis was elected under the then-used system of proportional representation to fill a city council seat being vacated by Adam Clayton Powell Jr. to run for Congress. Davis was reelected in 1945, this time to a four-year term. He was the second Communist elected to the council, the first being Peter Cacchione in 1941.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 November 1947 |title=CACCHIONE DEAD; COUNCIL MEMBER; First Avowed Communist Ever to Hold Elective Office in State Victim of a Heart Attack |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/11/07/archives/cacchione-dead-council-member-first-avowed-communist-ever-to-hold.html |work=The New York Times |location= New York |access-date=15 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Benjamin J. Davis, 60, Is Dead; Secretary of Communist Party; Former City Councilman Was"One of 11 Reds Convicted for Conspiracy in '49 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/24/archives/benjamin-j-davis-60-is-dead-secretary-of-communist-party-former.html |access-date=19 August 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=24 August 1964 |location=New York}}</ref>
[[File:Benjamin J. Davis Jr. FBI Mugshot 1948.jpg|thumb|right|Davis's FBI mugshot, 1948]]
Davis lost his 1949 bid for re-election due to a number of factors. First, two years earlier, New York had ceased to use proportional representation and Harlem was broken up into three districts, diluting the black vote.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} Second, Davis's opponent in the new 21st district was journalist Earl Brown, a fusion candidate for the Democratic, Republican, and Liberal parties.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ronan |first1=Thomas P. |title=Democrats Take 24 Council Seats |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/11/09/84284542.html?pageNumber=1 |access-date=June 11, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=November 9, 1949}}</ref> Finally, in July 1948, Davis was charged with conspiring to overthrow the federal government under the Smith Act{{spaced ndash}}a World War II-era charge that rested on Davis's association with the Communist Party.<ref name = Stan/> He was tried along with eleven other defendants for their communist beliefs and party affiliation in the Smith Act trials. Paul Robeson, noted actor, singer, and civil rights activist publicly advocated for Davis and his fellow defendants. His conviction was announced on October 13, only a few weeks before the election.
[[File:Benjamin J. Davis NYWTS.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Robert G. Thompson and Davis leaving the Federal Courthouse in New York City during the Smith Act trials, 1949]]
With only a month remaining in his last term, Davis was expelled from the city council by a vote of 15-0, with two members abstaining.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ronan |first1=Thomas P. |title=Council Ousts Davis, 15-0 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/11/29/84231784.html?pageNumber=1 |access-date=May 25, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=November 29, 1949}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Davis Joins Ranks Of Ex-Councilmen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1113392753/?terms=%22Benjamin%20Davis%22&match=1 |access-date=17 September 2025 |work=Staten Island Advance |date=29 November 1949 |location=Staten Island}}</ref> They did so on the advice of the City Corporation Counsel, which argued that Davis forfeited his office after his October conviction.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Peluso |first1=Dominick |title=Council Ousts Davis a Month Ahead of Time |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/449061539/?terms=%22Benjamin%20J.%20Davis%20Jr.%22&match=1 |access-date=17 September 2025 |work=Daily News |date=29 November 1949 |location=New York}}</ref> While one of his colleagues (Eugene P. Connolly) resigned in solidarity,<ref>{{cite news |title=Councilman Quits Over Davis Ouster |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/975917071/?match=1&terms=%22eugene%20p%20connolly%22 |access-date=16 February 2025 |work=Buffalo Courier-Express |date=8 December 1949 |location=Buffalo}}</ref> a majority of the rest passed a resolution celebrating his ouster.<ref>[http://observer.com/2005/04/could-have-been-worse/ <!--The Politicker, -->"Could Have Been Worse"], ''New York Observer'', April 21, 2005.</ref> He appealed his conviction for two years all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, without success. On March 1, 1955, after serving three years and four months in the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, Davis was freed.<ref name="spart">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070101084205/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdavisB.htm "Benjamin Davis"]}}, Spartacus Educational.</ref> However, he was immediately transferred to the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to serve an additional 60-day term for contempt of court. He had appeared there in 1953 as a defense witness for another group of five Communists charged under the Smith Act, but was asked and refused to answer questions about unrelated individuals involved in the Communist Party's National Commission of Negro Work.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Davis Story |work=National Guardian |date=June 8, 1953}}</ref> In 1957, the Supreme Court revisited the Smith Act and reversed itself in Yates v. United States,<ref>{{ussc|name=Yates v. United States|volume=354|page=298|pin=|year=1957}}</ref> which held that the First Amendment protected radical and reactionary speech, unless it posed a "clear and present danger."
thumb|right|Davis {{circa}} 1949
In subsequent years, Davis engaged in a speaking tour of college campuses and remained politically active, promoting an agenda of civil rights and economic populism. Davis' 1962 speaking circuit drew crowds at schools such as Harvard, Columbia, Amherst, Oberlin and the University of Minnesota.<ref name=Tyner>Jarvis Tyner, [http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/article/the-legacy-of-benjamin-j-davis The Legacy of Benjamin J. Davis] ''People's World,'' September 6, 2003.</ref> But the City College of New York{{spaced ndash}}in the New York council district he represented in the 1940s{{spaced ndash}}barred Davis from speaking on its campus in this period. After a student protest, Davis was allowed to speak outside, on the street.<ref name="Tyner"/> He was close to Communist Party chairman William Z. Foster. Davis continued to publicly defend the actions of the Soviet Union, including the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.<ref name="spart"/>
In 1962 Davis was charged with violating the Internal Security Act.<ref name="spart"/> <!-- Why? -->He died shortly before the case came to trial.<ref>Davis, ''Communist Councilman From Harlem'', p. 6.</ref>
==Death==
Davis died of lung cancer in New York City on August 22, 1964. He was less than one month shy of his 61st birthday at the time of his death, and was in the midst of a campaign for New York State Senate on the People's Party ticket.
==Legacy==
While in prison, Davis had written notes for a memoir. These were confiscated by prison authorities and not released until after his death. They were posthumously published under the title ''Communist Councilman From Harlem'' (1969), with a foreword by his Smith Act codefendant Henry Winston.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Benjamin J |title=Communist councilman from Harlem: autobiographical notes written in a Federal penitentiary |date=1969 |publisher=International Publishers|oclc=802430991 }}</ref>
To celebrate its publication, a cultural tribute to Davis was held on June 8, 1969, with Herndon, Claude Lightfoot, Herbert Aptheker, and others speaking.<ref>{{cite news |title=Angelo Herndon to appear here at cultural tribute to Ben Davis |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1140467138/?match=1&terms=%22Angelo%20Herndon%22 |access-date=9 May 2026 |work=Daily World |date=24 May 1969 |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Angelo Herndon to speak at Sunday tribute to Davis |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1140434314/?match=1&terms=%22Angelo%20Herndon%22 |access-date=9 May 2026 |work=Daily World |date=7 June 1969 |location=New York}}</ref> Expressing gratitude for Davis and the ILD, Herndon compared his struggle to that faced by the activists of the 1960s, stating: "You've got to fight, black and white together. This is the greatest monument you can erect to Ben Davis. You've got to tell them what Ben Davis did."<ref>{{cite news |last=Bassett |first=Ted |title=Herndon recalls Daviss role |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1140434346/?terms=%22Angelo%20Herndon%22 |access-date=9 May 2026 |work=Daily World |date=10 June 1969 |location=New York}}</ref>
==Works== * [https://collections.si.edu/search/record/ark:/65665/fd5c50a44f941a648f0a686ec5f1a6c0e96 "The Road to Liberation for the Negro People." (1937)] * [https://collections.si.edu/search/record/ark:/65665/fd57cd38dcd764e4923ae9b837e854a7ff0 "The Path of Negro Liberation." (1947)] * [https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735060483009 "In Defense of Negro Rights." (1950)] * [https://collections.si.edu/search/record/ark:/65665/fd5b6a0829f22924b57b076b888a62cc804 "The Negro People in the Struggle for Peace and Freedom." (1951)] * [https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735060482928 "The Negro People on the March." (1956)] * [https://collections.si.edu/search/record/ark:/65665/fd52b79227d8b4d45879e05fb789f28eeb9 "Must Negro Americans Wait?" (1963)] * "Upsurge in the South." * "Why I Am A Communist." * "Ben Davis on the McCarran Act." * "Communist Councilman from Harlem"
==''Daily Worker'' gallery== <gallery> File:Benjamin Davis and the Davis Daily Worker Brigade. (Vote Benjamin Davis poster on wall in background). Oct 1943 Slide 2.png|"Ben Davis Addresses Brigaders" October 15, 1942 File:Council President Delegation Visiting City Hall, New York City. Jul 1943 Slide 1.png|"Communist Leaders at City Hall" July 15, 1943 File:Carl Brodsky and Benjamin Davis Shaking Hands. Sep 1943 Slide 1.png|"Carl Brodsky withdraws from the election race to make way for the Negro Communist" September 1943 File:Benjamin Davis at the Office of Price Administration Hearing. Oct 1943 Slide 1.png|"Davis meets with the OPA on a delegation to curb black market activities in Harlem" October 1943 File:Benjamin Davis with Some of His Voters. Nov 1943 Slide 2.png|"He Got Davis 442 Votes in One E.D., Celebrates by Joining Party" November 11, 1943 File:Meeting at Carnegie Hall, Including Benjamin Davis (New York, New York). Jan 1944 Slide 4.png|"At Emancipation Celebration" January 2, 1944 File:Benjamin Davis and Peter V. Cacchione. Party Writing. Mar 1944 Slide 1.png|"The Race Is On" March 3, 1944 File:Benjamin Davis and Editor of P.W. in his Office. Apr 1945 Slide 2.png|"N. Y. Age Editor Aids Davis Ball" April 8, 1945 File:Benjamin Davis and Vito Marcantonio Cast Their Votes. Photos by Peter. Nov 5, 1946 Slide 6.png|"Councilman Benjamin J. Davis, Communist candidate for Attorney General, casts his vote at P.S. 24" November 5, 1946 File:Election Returns of Communist Party, American Labor Party. Photos by P.A. Nov 7, 1946 Slide 6.png|"View Returns" November 7, 1946 File:Wililam Z. Foster 80th Birthday Celebration, Carnegie Hall, New York, New York. Participants include Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Jack Stachel, Hyman Lumer, Gus Hall, Benjamin Davis, James Jackson. Mar 12, 1961 Slide 13.png|"Cheering Youths Spark Birthday Rally for Foster" March 10, 1961 </gallery>
==See also== <!--do not include any items already appearing in the article--> * J. Raymond Jones * David Paterson
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, ''Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950.'' New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. * Gerald Horne, ''Black Liberation/Red Scare: Ben Davis and the Communist Party.'' Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press, 1994. * Gerry Horwitz, [https://archive.org/details/uclahistoricaljo04univ "Benjamin Davis Jr. and the American Communist Party: A Study in Race and Politics,"] ''UCLA Historical Journal,'' vol. 4 (1983), pp. 92–107. * Walter T. Howard, ''We Shall Be Free!: Black Communist Protests in Seven Voices.'' Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2013. * William L. Patterson, ''Ben Davis: Crusader for Negro Freedom and Socialism.'' New York: New Century Publications, 1967. * John C. Walker,''The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones at Tammany 1920:1970'', New York: State University New York Press, 1989. * Paterson, David "''Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity''." New York, New York, 2020
==External links== {{commons}} {{wikiquote}} * Jarvis Tyner, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081201204159/http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/4024/0/ "The Legacy of Benjamin J. Davis"], ''People's Weekly World''. * Oakley C. Johnson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070825034716/http://www.nathanielturner.com/benjaminjdavisbio.htm "Chronological Table of Major Writings of Benjamin J. Davis Jr."] ''ChickenBones: A Journal for Literary & Artistic African-American Themes''. * [https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/photos_223_001/images/0zpc8k5m/ Benjamin Davis Registering for 1943 Election.: Oct 1943] * [https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/photos_223_001/images/c2fqzjzn/ Benjamin Davis.: Dec 1943] * [https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/photos_223_001/images/gqnk9nr1/ Benjamin Davis Election Committee.: Oct 1945] * [https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/photos_223_001/images/jm63z5jj/ National Committee Greets the French Commander Deputy Madeleine Braun. (Includes Steve Nelson, Madeleine Braun, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, William Z. Foster, and Benjamin Davis.) Photos by P.A.: Nov 15, 1946] (Davis is on the far left in slides 1 and 4) * [https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/photos_223_001/images/m0cfz2vt/ Individuals - Hall, Gus: undated] (Davis is second from left in slides 1 and 8, and on the left in slides 3, 7 and 9) * [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/hugo-gellert-papers-7845/series-6/box-6-folder-33 Hugo Gellert papers, 1916-1986, Box 6, Folder 33: Ben Davis, 1943-1948]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Benjamin J.}} Category:1903 births Category:1964 deaths Category:African-American people in New York (state) politics Category:Activists for African-American civil rights Category:African-American communists Category:Communist Party USA politicians Category:American Labor Party politicians Category:People convicted under the Smith Act Category:Amherst College alumni Category:Morehouse College alumni Category:American anti-racism activists Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:New York City Council members Category:People from Harlem Category:Politicians from Manhattan Category:People from Dawson, Georgia Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Category:Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:20th-century New York (state) politicians Category:Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Writers from Manhattan Category:African-American New York City Council members Category:20th-century African-American lawyers