Dempsey Travis papers

"An Autobiography of Black Politics" was published by Urban Research Press in 1987. The book uses accounts of influential African Americans to chronicle Chicago’s political evolution from the early 1800s through the election of Mayor Harold Washington in 1983.

"An Autobiography of Black Chicago," Travis’ first bestseller, was published by Urban Research Press in 1981. In 1982, Travis received the Midland Award for literary excellence for the book. The book uses autobiographical anecdotes, historical research, and information from interviews to give a narrative of Chicago’s African American history from the early 1900s through 1980.

Travis published three books on the subject of racism, "Racism, American Style – A Corporate Gift" (1991); "Racism: Round ‘n’ Round it Goes" (1998); and "An American Story in Red, White and Blue" (2002). "An American Story in Red White and Blue" traces the meaning of race in America from the Native Americans and founding fathers to present. "Racism: Round ‘n’ Round it Goes" relays firsthand accounts of racism and prejudice faced by African Americans that Travis interviewed. "Racism: American Style, A Corporate Gift" explores the challenges facing African Americans as they attempted to advance their careers in the corporate world.

Dempsey Travis had aspirations to become a musician after learning to play the piano at age 6, but he gave up playing music after serving in the army. He expressed his love for music through writing, and published numerous books about jazz music throughout his life, including "An Autobiography of Black Jazz" (1983), "The Duke Ellington Primer" (1996), and "The Louis Armstrong Odyssey" (1997), and "Norman Granz: The White Moses of Black Jazz" (2003).

Dempsey Travis was a close friend and financial supporter of Harold Washington throughout his political career. In 1989, Travis published Harold, the People’s Mayor: The Authorized Biography of Mayor Harold Washington. This series includes drafts of that book, interviews with Washington, his family, friends, and colleagues, and general research regarding Chicago’s political scene and Washington’s administration.

Dempsey Travis served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946. This series contains drafts of his book, Views from the Back of the Bus During WWII and Beyond (1995), interviews, correspondence from soldiers overseas who graduated from DuSable High School, and other research.

Travis wrote two books about the FBI’s interest in notable celebrities: "J Edgar Hoover’s FBI Wired the Nation" (2000) and "The FBI Files: On the Tainted and the Damned" (2002). The FBI series contains drafts of chapters, and the FBI files on individual persons that Travis requested through the Freedom of Information Act.

In 1988, after having become a self-made millionaire in the real estate business, Travis wrote "Real Estate is the Gold in Your Future." The book is a product of the author’s 40 years as a successful real estate broker and mortgage banker. The book imparts guidance and advice for real estate investing based on Travis’ experiences and through case studies of clients that Travis advised.

Travis wrote "The Victory Monument: The Beacon of Chicago’s Bronzeville" in 1999. The Victory Monument is a sculpture at 35th Street and King Drive in Chicago that was built to honor the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France during World War I. The series contains drafts of the book.

"The Chosen, the Damned, and Other People" (2007) is a historical account of Chicago history told through individual accounts of prominent Chicago figures such as Charlie Cole, Al Capone, and Ted Roe. This series contains drafts of the book.

"Obama’s Race to the White House" (2008) chronicles Barack Obama’s political career including his campaign for President as well as the campaigns of past African American who have run for president. This series contains drafts of the book.

Travis and Red Foxx were classmates at DuSable High School, and Travis published "The Life and Times of Red Foxx" in 1999. The series contains research on Red Foxx, including an interview with Robert Townsend.

The Dempsey Travis Real Estate series contains material related to Travis’ real estate and mortgage banking ventures. It includes documents from Sivart Corporation, Travis Realty Company, and the United Mortgage Bankers of America, as well as reports related to housing for minorities in Illinois.

The Personal series contains material not directly related to Travis’ writing process or real estate businesses, and includes correspondence, alma matter documents, financial documents and notebooks, travel itineraries, programs, personal interest material, and artifacts. The correspondence is primarily letters of appreciation for Travis’ book, "An Autobiography of Black Chicago."

The Photographs series contains photographs from public events that Travis attended, such as book signings and dinners, and personal events. It also contains photographs of notable African Americans, many of whom were musicians, as well as some pictures of real estate developments at various stages in the construction process.

The Publications series contains magazines, journals, and newspapers. Titles include "The Half Century Magazine," "Ebony," "Nostalgia Digest," "Dollars and Sense," and "The Black Scholar."