Dwight F. Davis Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Dwight F. Davis (1879-1945), best remembered as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition, was a member of the U.S. team that won the first two competitions in 1900 and 1902, serving as Captain of the 1900 team. Davis had been the runner-up at the U.S. Championships in 1898, and he then won the men's doubles title (with Holcombe Ward) in 1899, 1900 and 1901 and was a men's doubles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1901. Although trained as an attorney, Davis never practiced law after becoming involved in politics. He was the Public Parks Commissioner of St. Louis, Missouri from 1911-1915 (during which time he created the first municipal tennis courts in the U.S.) before serving as Assistant Secretary of War (1923-1925) and Secretary of War (1925-1929) under President Calvin Coolidge. Davis, who then served as Governor General of the Philippines (1929-1932), was hosting Republican Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth when Longworth died unexpectedly of pneumonia on April 9, 1931.