John Edgar Tidwell's research materials on Frank Marshall Davis complement his collection of original Davis materials by providing background information and retrospective insight into Davis's life and work. The materials include candid correspondence with close friends and relatives of Davis, general research materials on Davis and contemporary issues, reproductions of original Davis correspondence and compositions with annotations by Tidwell, research materials on Davis's contemporaries including Irma Wassall and Langston Hughes, and research materials and preparatory drafts and documentation for publishing Black Moods: Collected Poems (2002), Livin' the Blues: Memoirs of a Black Journalist and Poet (1992), and Writings of Frank Marshall Davis: A Voice of the Black Press (2007).