Above photo: Dorothy Davis, daughter of photographer, journalist and diplomat Griffith Davis, spent over two decades compiling her father’s story to present at the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs. Martha Rhine | The Crow’s Nest
By Martha Rhine
Of the many examples of African-American leaders in United States history, Griff Davis stood out for his unique contributions as a photographer, journalist and diplomat.
That was how Davis wished to be remembered.
His daughter, Dorothy, shared her father’s story alongside many of his photographs during a presentation for the sixth annual St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs Thursday.
Griff’s photographs exhibited his penchant for capturing thoughtful moments of African-Americans in a segregated United States. The photographs featured influential moments and figures in U.S. history such as Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King Jr.
Griff worked as the campus photographer for Spelman College and Morehouse College, where he attended, and as a freelance photographer for the Atlanta Daily World and Hughes, who was a mentor and friend.
He served in the Army during WWII as a Buffalo Soldier and later as the first roving editor for Ebony Magazine before attending Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Griff’s photographs for the Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina was his breakthrough project for Ebony Magazine. The school was the first black boarding school that prepared students for college. His photographs depicted black youth dancing at prom, playing tennis and praying before meals.
“Photography was the only way he could express himself as a black man,” Dorothy said.
Griff’s pioneering role with the U.S. Foreign Service lead him to Liberia, where he continued to work as a freelance photojournalist and diplomat.
After her father’s death, Dorothy set out to compile his work – a process that took her two years. It took another 25 years to piece together his story.
