H. Res. 69

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

February 9, 2005.

Whereas the late Ossie Davis, actor and civil rights leader,

was born Raiford Chatman Davis, the oldest of five children born to Laura Cooper and Kince Davis, on December 18, 1917, in Cogdell, Georgia;

Whereas Ossie Davis graduated in the top 5 percent of his

high school class, received a National Youth Administration scholarship, and walked from Waycross, Georgia, to

Washington, D.C., to attend Howard University, where

he studied with Alain Leroy Locke, the first black

Rhodes Scholar;

Whereas Ossie Davis began his career as a writer and an

actor with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem in

1939;

Whereas during World War II Ossie Davis served in the

Army in an African-American medical unit, including

service as an Army surgical technician in Libya, where he

worked on stabilizing some of the 700,000 soldiers

wounded in that war for transport back to State-side hospitals;

Whereas Ossie Davis made his Broadway debut in 1946 in

Jeb, where he met his wife, actress Ruby Dee, who he

married in 1948;
2

•HRES 69 EH

Whereas Ossie Davis went on to perform in many Broadway

productions, including Anna Lucasta, The Wisteria Trees,

Green Pastures, Jamaica, Ballad for Bimshire, A Raisin

in the Sun, The Zulu and the Zayda, and I’m Not

Rappaport.

Whereas in 1961, he wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed Purlie Victorious;

Whereas Ossie Davis’ first movie role was in No Way Out in

1950, followed by appearances in The Cardinal in 1963,

The Hill in 1965, and The Scalphunters in 1968;

Whereas Ossie Davis made his feature debut as a writer/director with Cotton Comes to Harlem in 1970 and later directed Kongi’s Harvest in 1971, Black Girl in 1972, Gordon’s War in 1973, and Countdown at Kusini in 1976;

Whereas Ossie Davis held numerous leading and supporting

television and motion picture roles throughout his distinguished career;

Whereas Ossie Davis was a leading activist in the civil rights

era of the 1960s when he joined Dr. Martin Luther King,

Jr. in the crusade for jobs and freedom and to help raise

money for the Freedom Riders;

Whereas Ossie and Ruby Dee Davis, having protested the injustices of the McCarthy Era House Committee on UnAmerican Activities in the 1950s, were blacklisted from

Hollywood;

Whereas Ossie and Ruby Dee Davis raised their voices for

numerous causes, including support for the United Negro

College Fund, vocal opposition to the Vietnam War, and

participation in the August 28, 1963, March on Washington, D.C., at which the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

delivered his ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech.
3

•HRES 69 EH

Whereas Ossie Davis served for 12 years as master of ceremonies at the annual National Memorial Day Concerts

on the grounds of the United States Capitol and was an

advocate on behalf of the Nation’s veterans;

Whereas Ossie Davis eulogized both Dr. Martin Luther King,

Jr., and Malcolm X at their funerals;

Whereas Ossie Davis was inducted into the Theater Hall of

Fame in 1994 and received innumerable honors and citations throughout his life, including the Hall of Fame

Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement in 1989, the

United States National Medal for the Arts in 1995, the

New York Urban League Frederick Douglass Award,

NAACP Image Award, and the Screen Actor’s Guild

Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001;

Whereas Ossie Davis and his wife, Ruby Dee, are the parents

of three children and have recently published their joint

autobiography, With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together; and

Whereas Davis enjoyed a long and luminous career in entertainment along with his wife before he died in Miami,

Florida, at the age of 87 on Friday, February 4, 2005,

where he was making a movie called ‘‘Retirement’’: Now,

therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) recognizes the extraordinary contributions to

the Nation of the late Ossie Davis for his service to the

Nation in the military, as a civil rights leader, and as

an actor;

(2) honors him as a great American and pioneer in

the annals of American history; and
4

•HRES 69 EH

(3) expresses its deepest condolences upon his death

to his wife Ruby Dee Davis, his other family members,

and his friends.

Attest:

Clerk.