Born in Georgia in 1928, Rudy Davenport and his family moved to Chicago the next year. He grew up in Chicago, graduated from Roosevelt University, and moved to Springfield in 1966.
Davenport worked for the state of Illinois and was an active volunteer with the NAACP. He was one of the plaintiffs in the voting rights case that changed the structure of Springfield city government. He later became a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and served as local president. 
In an interview for the Springfield African-American History Foundation series, He discusses the inequalities present in the American educational system and NAACP efforts to alleviate racism.