Frank Marshall Davis Papers
Finding Aid: Frank Marshall Davis Papers
Repository:
The DuSable Museum of African American History
 | Maker: Carver Club staff [?] Owner: public domain Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |
 | An aficionado of jazz music, Davis taught a full ten-lecture course on the history of jazz at the South Side Abraham Lincoln School and was 'Jazz Disc Jockey' on Chicago's WJJD in the 1940s. Maker: Abraham Lincoln Center staff [?] Owner: public domain Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |
 | A letter from James Weldon Johnson to Frances Norton Manning dated 1935 probably refers to Davis's first volume of poems, Black Man's Verse. Manning, often described as a 'bohemian intellectual,' encouraged Davis's poetry writing and arranged an introduction to Norman Forge, editor of Chicago's Black Cat Press, which published Black Man's Verse. Maker: James Weldon Johnson Owner: James Weldon Johnson Estate (papers at Yale University) Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |
 | The correspondence in the collection documents Davis's difficulty in placing both his poetry volume 47th Street (1948) and his autobiography Livin' the Blues (published posthumously in 1992). This letter from Knopf editor Herbert Weinstock rejecting 47th Street follows a solicitation from Knopf for Davis's manuscript. Maker: Herbert Weinstock Owner: Herbert Weinstock Estate or Knopf Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |
 | A small set of now-rare serials reflects Davis's participation in an interracial coalition of artists and writers, many of whom were employed on the WPA's Illinois Writers' Project, co-headed by Arna Bontemps and Jack Conroy. The collection includes the first two issues of the leftist literary journal New Anvil, which was edited by Conroy. Maker: Jack Conroy and B.C. Hagglund Owner: public domain, Jack Conroy Estate or Ben C. Hagglund Estate Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |
 | The Davis Collection includes extensive correspondence between Frank Marshall Davis and his literary agent Paul Romaine. In this letter Romaine refers to mutual friend Jack Conroy, a Chicago-based proletarian writer and editor of New Anvil who headed the Federal Writers' Project on which Davis was employed. Romaine mentions enclosing what are probably Communist Party pamphlets, noting that he 'might as well pass them on to you. I am still unconverted after 30 years.' Maker: Paul Romaine Owner: Paul Romaine Estate Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |
 | Davis frequently served as resident expert on behalf of African Americans at forums such as this one at the Swendenborgian Church Hall on February 19, 1946. Owner: public domain Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |
 | The DuSable Museum published a volume of Davis's poems entitled Jazz Interlude in 1984. This page from a galley of Jazz Interlude shows manuscript emendations by both Davis and Margaret Burroughs. Maker: Frank Marshall Davis and DuSable Museum of African American History Owner: Beth Davis Charlton [?] and DuSable Museum of African American History Note: Frank Marshall Davis Papers, Collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History |