A Celebration of Black History

Edward Davis (1911-1999) – First Black Car Dealership

Edward Davis is known as the first African American to own a car dealership. In 1940, he established a Studebaker dealership until 1956 when the manufacturer went out of business. He was then awarded a Big Three franchise with his Chrysler-Plymouth dealership paving the way for minority business owners in the automotive industry.

Davis began his career as a mechanic and later became employed at a Dodge Motor Company plant. He was offered a job selling cars in a Detroit dealership where he succeeded despite much struggle amid racial harassment. In 1939, he opened a used car lot, his first automobile business, in downtown Detroit which later turned into a Studebaker dealership. After Studebaker went bankrupt, Davis was awarded a Chrysler-Plymouth franchise in November 1963. He chronicled his struggles of racism and entrepreneurship in his book One Man’s Way.

In 1993, Davis was honored by the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers with the establishment of the annual Edward Davis Pioneer Award. The Edward Davis Scholarship Fund was created to support black students interested in the automotive industry. In 1999, he became the first African American to be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame Museum.

Sources:

Smith, Jesse Carney. Black Facts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. 3rd ed. 77. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 2013.

Edward Davis. Automotivehalloffame.org. Automotive Hall of Fame. Web. 11 Feb 2016. http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/inductee/edward-davis/39/.

Museum of African American History. Web. 11 Feb 2016. http://makingtracks.org/pdfs/new/1939-Davis-Motor-Sales-opens.pdf