Ilus W. Davis

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Ilus Winfield Davis (1917-September 4, 1996) was Kansas City mayor from 1963 to 1971.

"Ike" Davis oversaw the bond issue to build Kansas City International Airport and pushed for construction of the Truman Sports Complex for the Kansas City Chiefs and eventually the Kansas City Royals. He dealt with labor strife during the construction of the two projects and riots following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King.

He grew up on the east side of Kansas City and in 1933 was in the freshman class of the University of Kansas City which was to become the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He was instrumental in founding the student newspaper the University News. He was to get a law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and served in the Army during World War II.

Davis was elected by 1,810 votes in nearly 110,000 cast in 1963.

In April 1968 following the King assassination Davis met with a large group of inner city school students on the steps of City Hall. A police officer fired tear gas canister into the crowd and a riot erupted in which six were to die.