Davis Houck Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS 2015-007

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Newclippings, photographs, creative and scholarly works, and government records collected by Davis Houck during research on the role of the press in the American civil rights movement, with special emphasis on the 1955 murder of Emmett Till near Money, Mississippi.

Online Content Available

Digitized and born-digital content from this collection is available through the FSU Digital Library.

Dates

created: 1955 - 2006
Other: Majority of material found in 1955 - 1956

Creator

Houck, Davis W. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyrights in some works in this collection are managed by the Chicago Defender. Re-use or copying of these works beyond Fair Use may require permission: https://chicagodefender.com/archives-permissions/

Copyright restrictions may apply to other works in this collection as well. Re-use or copying beyond Fair Use may require permission from rights-holders. Please contact lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu for more information.

Biographical or Historical Information

Dr. Davis Houck holds a Bachelors of the Arts degree in Communication from the College of Wooster, a Master’s degree in Rhetoric and Communication from the University of California, and a PhD in Speech Communication from Penn State University. He previously taught at Florida Atlantic University from 1996 to 1999. Houck joined the faculty of the College of Communication & Information at Florida State University in 2000, and in 2016 was named Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies.

Dr. Houck’s research interests include rhetorical criticism, presidential rhetoric, the Black Freedom Movement, historiography and archival research, and mediated representations of sport. Dr. Houck has written several papers and a book on the Emmett Till case.

Emmett Till (1941-1955) was an African American teenager who was murdered in 1955 in a racially motivated crime while visiting relatives near Money, Mississippi. Till’s murder and the subsequent trial became national news. His death demonstrated the racism present in Mississippi during the time and became a focal point for the Civil Rights Movement.