Originally from Baltimore, MD, Curtis Carroll Davis received his A.B. from Yale University in 1938 and his M.A. from Columbia University in 1939. He enrolled in Duke's graduate English program in 1939 and wrote a dissertation on the Virginia novelist, William Alexander Caruthers. He received his Ph.D. in 1947. Davis led an active social life while at Duke, attending numerous concerts and dances, and also served as president of the English Graduate Club. Additionally, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942-1946.
Following his graduation from Duke, Carroll worked as desk chief for the CIA, was a member of the directorate of the Star Spangled Banner Flag Home Association, and was also a prolific writer. His most famous works include the biographies, King's Chevalier: A Biography of Lewis Littlepage and That Ambitious Mr. Legare: The Life of James M. Legare of South Carolina .
From the guide to the Curtis Carroll Davis scrapbook, 1939-1942, (University Archives, Duke University)
