Davis taught at Howard University from 1944 to 1980. He co-edited two influential anthologies: The Negro Caravan with Sterling Brown (1941), and Cavalcade with J. Saunders Redding (1971). Davis also edited Isaac Watts: His Life and Works (1943) and wrote a compilation of essays, From the Dark Tower: Afro-American Writers 1900 – 1960 (1974). Individual articles and short fiction appeared in The Crisis, Phylon, Obsidian, Negro Digest, Promethean, The Journal of Negro History, and the Norfolk Journal and Guide (where he had a regular column, “With a Grain of Salt,” from 1933 – 1950).
Among his many honors, Davis was the recipient of an award from the College Language Association for distinguished contributions to literary scholarship, a Distinguished Critic Award from the Middle Atalntic Writers Association, a Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award from the DC Public Library, and an honorary doctorate from Howard University.