Fania Davis, Ph.D., Oral History Interview: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An oral history interview and conversation with restorative justice advocate Dr. Fania Davis. It consists of three versions of a digital video recording, two camera card files (2025.12.10.1.1 and 2025.12.10.1.2, .mxf files) and one edited file (2025.12.10.1.3, .mov file).

Dr. Fania Davis was interviewed by Howard University student Kailyn Bailey on November 16, 2023, as part of the Social Justice Conversations Oral History Project. The interview took place at the offices of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth in Oakland, California. At the time of the interview, Dr. Davis was 76 years old.

This oral history interview consists of two distinct sections: an “interview” section (part 1) and a “conversation” section (part 2, 00:54:50). In part 1, Dr. Fania Davis describes her early life in Birmingham, Alabama, including living with segregation and the “games of resistance” she and her sister played as children despite the risk of lynchings. She talks about her experiences living with a white family in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, as part of a Quaker program for high school students. Davis recounts learning about the death of two of her friends in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and what is was like to grow up in “Bombingham” and the racial terror campaigns carried out by the Ku Klux Klan. She also discusses her early activist experiences and her time at Swarthmore College and her move to California before briefly touching on her experience with domestic violence and relating the police shooting in her California apartment and being charged with the attempted murder of a police officer. She discusses her political activism and being a member of the Black Panther Party in California, the Angela Davis case, traveling to Cuba, the Soledad Brothers, and her motivations for becoming a civil rights attorney. In part 2, Dr. Davis reflects on her time as a civil rights lawyer, her transition into graduate school, her time studying in various African countries, and discovering the field of restorative justice. Bailey reflects on her own spiritual journey, African spirituality, and her work with Howard University’s Kwame Ture Society. Dr. Davis and Bailey further discuss tending to relationships, healing circles, possibilities of healing, and the power of love.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: November 16, 2023
• Created by: National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
• Recorded by: Trudy Hutcherson, American
• Recorded by: Candace Dane Chambers, American
• Interviewed by: Kailyn L. Bailey
• Interview of: Fania E. Davis Ph.D., American, born 1947
• Subject of: Sallye Bell Davis, American, 1914 - 2007
• Subject of: 16th Street Baptist Church, American, founded 1873
• Subject of: Swarthmore Collge, American, founded 1864
• Type: video recordings
• Type: oral histories
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: Duration (2025.12.10.1.3, edited): 1 hr., 53 min., 38 sec.
• Dimensions: File size: 184 GB
• Place filmed: Oakland, Alameda County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Glen Ridge, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Swarthmore, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Berkeley, Alameda County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Cuba, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America
• Place captured: San Francisco, San Francisco county, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: South Africa, Africa
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Baptist
• Topic: Black power
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Families
• Object number: 2025.12.10.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.