Benjamin J. Davis Jr.

This article is about the American Communist leader. For other people with the same name, see Benjamin Davis.

Ben Davis
Davis c. 1962
Member of the New York City Council
from Manhattan At-Large
In office
January 1, 1944 – November 29, 1949
Preceded byAdam Clayton Powell Jr.
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
BornBenjamin Jefferson Davis, Jr.
(1903-09-08)September 8, 1903
Dawson, Georgia, U.S.
DiedAugust 22, 1964(1964-08-22) (aged 60)
New York, New York, U.S.
PartyCommunist
EducationAmherst College (AB)
Harvard University (LLB)
OccupationLawyer, activist, politician
Known forSmith Act trials of Communist Party leaders

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.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.