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Papers of
David M. Davis
Processed by: Karen E. King
March 1999
10.75 lin. ft.
Biography | Scope and Content | Provenance | Series Descriptions
David MacFarland Davis was born on March 23, 1926 in St. Charles, Illinois to Harrold Henry Davis and Bernice (MacFarland) Goodstein. He received his bachelor's degree in musical education from Northwestern University in 1947, and a MS degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951.
From 1947 to 1951, while studying for his masters, Davis worked at WFIL-AM-FM-TV in Philadelphia as a producer and a director. During the same years, he also worked as an instructor at Temple University. From 1951 to 1952, Davis worked as a television producer and coordinator for Michigan State University in East Lansing. He then worked as production manager for ABC affiliate station WMAL-TV, Washington, DC. From 1953 to 1956, he was Director of Programs for WUNC-TV, Greensboro, North Carolina. He then worked as station manager at WGBH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts from 1956 to 1967. During his tenure at WGBH, he produced and directed several productions including the 1963 Oscar-winning documentary film Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World and two television series during 1966 to 1967: Aaron Copland: Music of the 20's and Lotte Lenya: World of Kurt Weill.
From 1967 to 1968, Davis was the Director of Programming Instruction at the Television Trust in Tel Aviv, Israel. In 1968, he returned to the United States to work for Ford Foundation's Office of Public Broadcasting as a Television Program Coordinator until February 1969. At that time he became program officer until September 1969. From October 1969 until December 1974, Davis served as officer in charge. He worked under Fred W. Friendly until September 1972. Davis retained his position as the Office of Public Broadcasting became the Office of Communications in 1974 due to increased federal support for public broadcasting resulting in the need to refocus on other areas of communications including policy issues, media impact, journalism, and news and the law.
Davis left the Ford Foundation in 1979 to work as a consultant for the German Marshall Fund in Washington, DC. His consulting work continued through 1981 but in 1980 he became President of Public Television Playhouse, Inc. (New York City) which produced American Playhouse. Meanwhile, he also became Vice Chairman of the Indiana Television Services, Inc. also located in New York City. Finally he was president and chief executive officer of The American Documentary Inc. which produced P.O.V. from 1987 to 1993.
Davis has been a member of several national and international association including the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He also served on several committees including the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Media Committee of the Indo-U.S. Sub-Committee of Education and Culture.
The Papers of David M. Davis cover the years 1956 to 1980, with the bulk of materials dating from 1968 to 1979. The collection documents Davis' work for the Ford Foundation in the Office of Public Broadcasting and in the Office of Communications. Types of documents include correspondence, grant recommendations, program reviews, reports, and speeches. The collection consists of three series:
- Series 1: Ford Foundation
- Series 2: Ford Foundation. Office of Public Broadcasting
- Series 3: Ford Foundation. Office of Communications
The Papers of David M. Davis were donated to the National Public Broadcasting Archives, University of Maryland Libraries by David M. Davis in July of 1991, March and August of 1992.
Series 1: Ford Foundation, 1956-1979 (2.0 lin.ft.)
This series documents the Ford Foundation's activities in the area of educational and public broadcsting prior to and during Davis' tenure there. Materials include budget, responses to a Federal Communications Commission docket regarding the use of satellite facilities by non-governmental agencies, testimonies by Fred W. Friendly and McGeorge Bundy as well as reports on programming, audience research and educational broadcasting history. The documents are arranged alphabetically by category and then alphabetically by author or title.
Series 2: Ford Foundation. Office of Public Broadcasting, 1968-1974 (5.25. lin. ft.)
This series documents Davis' activities in the Ford Foundation's Office of Public Broadcasting. The bulk of the series consists mostly of outgoing correspondence and program grant recommendations and reviews. Topics of correspondence include station visit reports, responses to viewer criticism and grant requests. This series also contains grant recommendations and program reviews, particularly as part of the Project for New Television Programming. This project's purpose was to strengthen and encourage innovation in programming at the local and regional level. Notable correspondents include Fred Friendly, McGeorge Bundy, and John Houseman who reviewed programs for the Project for New Television Programming. Materials are arranged alphabetically by category and then either chronologically or alphabetically.
Series 3: Ford Foundation. Office of Communications, 1974-1980 (3.5 lin. ft.)
This series documents Davis' activities in the Ford Foundation's Office of Communications. Materials include correspondence, grant recommendations, program descriptions, inventories and reports. Topics include conference information, the Station Independence Project, and other broadcasting organizations such as the International Broadcast Institute. Materials are arranged alphabetically by category and then either chronologically or alphabetically.
