Dempsey Travis (1920-2009) was born and raised in Chicago. He was a real estate magnate, civil rights activist, jazz musician, and author. He graduated from Chicago's DuSable High School in 1939 and served in the US Army during World War II. He graduated from Roosevelt University in 1949 and received a degree from the School of Mortgage Banking at Northwestern University in 1969. He is the author of numerous works of political and cultural history and commentary, including An Autobiography of Black Chicago, which Agate reissued in 2013 as part of its Bolden Lives line. He was a contributing writer to Ebony and the Black Scholar, among many other publications.
