Dr. Albert Porter Davis

Dr. Davis served several prominent roles in Wyandotte County: the first African American Assistant Health Director of the County, County Coroner, president of The National Medical Association, and also remained an active staff member in two area hospitals. Albert also had a keen business sense, founding both the Red Top taxi company and the Service Finance Corp. (savings and loan agency), a first of its kind to be owned by an African American man in the state of Kansas. Dr. Davis was also among one of the first federally-licensed African American pilots and enjoyed flying his personal plane. The A. Porter Davis Residence, also known as Castle Rock, is a historic house located at 852 Washington Boulevard.

Albert Porter Davis, born in 1890, grew up in Texas until leaving for college in 1907 to move to Tennessee and follow in his father’s footsteps of becoming a doctor. Following his graduation from medical school in 1913, Dr. Davis moved to Kansas where he then passed the board and became licensed to practice medicine in the state. Albert had gone to Meharry Medical College in Nashville, one of the first African American institutions known for producing doctors in a time when doctors were of great necessity for the African American community because many white doctors would refuse treatment. Dr. Davis established his medical career in Kansas by starting a family practice that specialized in medicine and surgery that was open to anyone. Dr. Davis spoke Spanish which allowed him to truly care for all who needed treatment. It was also in Kansas City Kansas where he met his love, a teacher named Hazel, and the pair married in 1926, having a daughter in 1940. 

A few years after settling in Kansas (in 1917), Albert enlisted as a lieutenant in the army reserves where he mainly served as a part of the US Army Medical Corps during World War I. It was his time in the reserves where Dr. Davis developed his appreciation for flight as well as the arts, writing music and even starring as an actor in the first African American film produced in Kansas City. While a man of many talents, Dr. Davis did not let these activities hinder his service as a medical practitioner, even founding the Davis Maternity Sanitarium for Unwed Mothers in 1920. This was a groundbreaking operation, offering educational services, prenatal care, adoption assistance, and general aid to women in need, remaining a valuable community asset for more than twenty years. In 1926 Dr. Davis received a promotion and became the first African American Assistant Health Director for Kansas City, a position he held for six years. 

Living in Kansas City Kansas, Dr. A. Porter Davis found it useful to hold a license to practice medicine in both Kansas and Missouri in an effort to best serve his community, as he actively worked in hospitals and had his own office in both States. This also allowed him to nurture his love for flight and spent much of his time in Missouri pursuing his pilot's license. In 1928, Dr. Davis, who has later coined the ‘flying physician’ - was officially licensed to fly planes, and even purchased his own American Eagle. Notably, a lot of this experience involved flying his friends around the state and he even opened a school for African Americans interested in aviation in 1929. By 1939, he made headlines for his passion for flight, when the paper detailed that Dr. A. Porter Davis was the fourth African American to hold a pilot’s license and the oldest in seniority with eleven years of private flying experience and among the first few people to gain licenses to fly. As a result of his popularity and successes, Dr. Davis became well known in the aviation community and was even awarded a trophy for his role in the advancement of aviation by the National Airmen’s Association of America, or NAAA. This leadership in the aviation community-led to Dr. Davis’ election as one of the seven vice presidents of the NAAA and their decision to hold the next conference in Kansas City. Today, his mark on the world of aviation can be seen in the Kansas aviation hall of fame.

Not only did Dr. Davis pursue a successful career in medicine and devote a great deal of his time to his love for aviation but he also dipped his hand into entrepreneurship. Davis made history when in 1927 he founded the Red Top Taxicab Co. as well as a savings and loan association called Service Finance Corp. and was the first African American man to own establishments such as these. His entrepreneurial endeavors did not stop there in 1953. Dr. Davis built the Kansas Trailer Village that could house 50 trailers. This mobile home park created a community as well by providing access to amenities, so much so that all of the residents of the community were white. This experience proved so successful that in 1956 he headed up the Wyandotte County Mobile Homes Association in effort to encourage more African Americans to start their own mobile home parks. 

During this time, Davis remained practicing medicine at Douglass Hospital on the Kansas side and also Wheatley Provident Hospital II on the Missouri side of the city. His experience and reputation both inside and out of the hospital helped Davis secure the role of deputy coroner in 1950, a position he held for two years in Wyandotte County. Davis’ attentions were then diverted as he became president of the National Medical Association, which was a collective established by African Americans because they were barred access to the American Medical Association (AMA). Dr. A. Porter Davis died in 1976, after declining in health rapidly for the prior 7 years but his legacy is continuously honored today, with his home - nicknamed ‘Castle Rock’ on the National Register of Historic Places as well as Kansas City Kansas’ Historic Landmarks. Even to this day, the home is occupied by Davis’ relatives and remains as a memorial to his achievements. Castle Rock, aside from being Davis’ residence, was built for him in 1938 by a local architect and had impeccable architectural standards.

A. Porter Davis Residence, February 18th 2000. Accessed June 8th 2022. https://alchetron.com/A.-Porter-Davis-Residence.

A. Porter Davis, Wikipedia. February 24th 2022. Accessed June 8th 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Porter_Davis.

"Davis, Albert Porter ." Notable Black American Men, Book II. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Jun. 2022. https://www.encyclopedia.com/african-american-focus/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/davis-albert-porter.

Dr. A. Porter Davis, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Accessed June 8th 2022. https://airandspace.si.edu/support/wall-of-honor/dr-porter-davis.