The W. Allison Davis 1924 and John A. Davis 1933 Lecture commemorates the remarkable work of the two distinguished scholars for which the Center is named. The Davis Brothers who, throughout their adult lives, made important contributions to equal rights and opportunities in the United States. Allison Davis, the valedictorian of the Class of 1924, was a pioneer in the social anthropological study of class and caste in the American South. John A. Davis pursued wide-ranging political science work on race in both the United States and Africa. The Davis Lecture is delivered each year by a scholar whose work concentrates on some aspects of race, class, or education in the United States.