THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2024 51 “Liberian Woman Walks Alongside Iron Ore Train,” 1952, by Griffith Davis. It was the second place winner of USAID/ FrontLines 50th Anniversary People’s Choice Global Photo Contest in 2011. A Prolific Life and Body of Work From 1952 to 1985, Griff Davis worked in many capacities f or USAID. As an adviser to African governments such as Liberia, Tunisia, and Nigeria, and to the Bureaus for Africa and Population and Humanitarian Assistance, he had the fortuitous opportunity to document in rare still photographs and motion pictures historic moments in the developmental evolution and activities of the first years of independence of many African countries and African leaders. During his professional career, he influenced these countries’ development policies in the communications, education, population, and economic areas. He also repeatedly traveled to more than 25 of Africa’s then 51 countries, and to several European countries, during his career. After retiring to his hometown of Atlanta in 1985, Davis periodically served as an official escort for more than 50 international visitors brought to the United States by the U.S. Information Agency. He tried to initiate the concept of having escorts like himself document the visits through photographs as well as written reports, so that these visitors could have a lasting visual memory of their experiences in the United States. Before he died, in July 1993, Davis’ friends from Atlanta curated his final exhibition, “An Exhibition Honoring the Career of Griffith Jerome Davis, Photographer, Journalist, Diplomat and Native Atlantan,” at the Atrium on Sweet Auburn in Georgia. My father received multiple awards for his work during his lifetime and posthumously, and I dedicate the Griffith J. Davis Photographs and Archives to excavating, highlighting, and sharing his images and stories. May he serve as an inspiration to others to take the road less traveled. n ©GRIFF DAVIS/GRIFFITH J. DAVIS PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARCHIVES
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