Angela Davis Ephemera Collection

Collection

Identifier: MSS-1823

Scope and Contents note

This collection includes a large number of hand-bills and flyers promoting events organized to either raise awareness of Angela Davis’s imprisonment or to collect funds to support her legal fund. The documents are mainly from four organizations: the Philadelphia Committee to Free Angela Davis, the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis, the New York Committee to Free Angela Davis, and the Communist Party USA. The collection also includes a copy of Davis’s article, Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves, and a ‘partial list of organizations and individuals who have spoken out in behalf of Angela Davis.’ Finally, items to promote Davis’s cause are included, such as stickers, postcards, and a poster.

Dates

1970 - circa 1987

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections. For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which the University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical/Historical note

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.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet (46 items)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Includes materials related to the Alabama-born activist Angela Davis and the early 1970s movement to have her freed from prison along with materials related to her campaigns to win the seat of U.S. vice-president as part of the Communist ticket in the 1980s.