Angela Davis Ephemera Collection

Angela Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1944 and was exposed to segregation and violence against civil rights activists in her youth. She was educated in New York, Massachusetts, California, France, and Germany. She was influenced by a number of prominent Marxist theorists during her studies and joined the Communist Party at the age of 24. Around the same time she became active in the Black Panther organization in California. In 1969, Davis began teaching philosophy at the University of California, Los Angles, but was subsequently relieved of her position when then California Governor Ronald Reagan introduced a law that stipulated that known communists could not hold jobs for state institutions. Davis gained international recognition after her arrest and trial for kidnap and murder of a prosecutor and judge during a Black Panther member’s trial. In 1972, she was found not guilty. After her trial she began teaching again at universities in California and continues today at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Davis has never ceased to be politically active. She has been associated with many activist groups over the years and even campaigned for the office of US vice-president twice in the 1980s as the candidate for the Communist Party.

Sources: The Biographical Dictionary of African Americans. African-American Social Leaders and Activists, A to Z of African Americans. A to Z of American Women Leaders and Activists, A to Z of Women.