The research of Davis Houck on Emmett Till was recently featured in The Argus, the oldest continuous black-owned business in St. Louis, Missouri. The Argus covered the kidnap, murder and trial of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955. However, all of the copies of The Argus that were published in September and October of 1955 were missing on microfilm. The article describes how a research assistant for Dr. Houck scoured the Internet for the missing copies and finally found luck with the State Historical Society of Missouri.

According to the article, the newfound copies included rare photographs and helped Davis and his research assistants “understand what was happening during the trial, as well as what was happening within the black press, and how the black press reacted to a very defensive and angry white Mississippi.” The discovery helped Dr. Houck solve one of many mysteries in the Emmett Till case.