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L. Clifford Davis was born in Wilton, Arkansas, on October 12, 1924 the son of Augustus and Dora Duckett Davis. Raised on the family farm, after eighth grade he moved to Little Rock to live with older siblings while he attended Dunbar High School and Philander Smith College. Following graduation, he applied to Howard University School of Law and was admitted. After his first year, he attempted to transfer to the University of Arkansas School of Law for the 1946-47 school year. His efforts led to the University’s decision to integrate its graduate programs voluntarily, although by the time that decision was made, Davis was in his third year at Howard and decided to remain until graduation. Following graduation in spring 1949, he returned to Arkansas where he passed the bar exam and was admitted to practice on July 4, 1949.
Davis worked initially with another African American lawyer, W. Harold Flowers, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. During that period, he worked on cases challenging school segregation in the DeWitt School District. After a short time, Davis left Flowers’ office to become a sole practitioner in Camden, Arkansas. He and another lawyer, Shepperson Wilburn, filed two cases challenging school desegregation in Bearden and Helena. By 1954, Davis had moved his practice to Ft. Worth, Texas, where he filed suit against the Mansfield School District in 1955. Although he obtained a favorable decision in the U.S. District Court, community opposition and lack of support from the federal government led the plaintiffs to drop their efforts. Davis was more successful, although it was a lengthy process, in suing the Fort Worth School District. He continued to practice in Ft. Smith, and became an elected Criminal District Court judge in 1983. His legal and community work with the NAACP Fort Worth Chapter led to his receipt of the William Robert Ming Award in 2002. An elementary school also was named after him in 2002. Other awards have followed. Judge Davis continues a limited practice of law.