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Civil rights era photos taken by noted photojournalist to be discussed by son |
| By
Kathleen Amerkhanian |
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Jan 11, 2007 |
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In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, UT College of Law Associate Professor Ben Davis will give a presentation Tuesday, Jan. 16, of the photos taken by his father, noted photojournalist Griffith Davis, during the pre-civil rights and civil rights periods in the United States.
The free, public program, "Photos of Faith: Hope in an Age of Segregation," will begin at noon in the Law Center Auditorium on Main Campus.
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| Griffith Davis, left, and Langston Hughes |
Photos will include images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King and Langston Hughes. The photos reveal a dedication to a stubborn hope — that segregation would one day be a relic of the past. Ben Davis’ presentation of these photos will pose a critical question: Has this hope been fulfilled?
“These photos are part of hidden history — history that might have been seen, if at all, only in the black press, for reasons peculiar to those times,” Ben Davis said. “Now we have a chance to reflect on these photos and whether those decisions to not broadcast them to a broader audience were wise.”
Griffith Jerome Davis was born in Atlanta April 18, 1923. He was introduced to photography while attending Atlanta University Laboratory High School. The camera became his primary means of expression and support during high school and college. After returning from service in World War II, Davis established connections with national publications, writing and taking photos for the Atlanta Daily World, Time and Ebony.
Davis was a contemporary of Martin Luther King Jr. at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he also met Hughes, who became a lifelong friend. In the early 1950s, Davis joined the U.S. Foreign Service, becoming one of the pioneers of President Harry Truman’s Point 4 Program for Foreign Aid, the forerunner of the present-day U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He worked in many other capacities in the Foreign Service for USAID for the next 30 years, serving in Liberia, Tunisia and Nigeria. He retired from the U.S. government in 1985.
For more information about Davis’ life and work, click here.
For more information about the free public event, contact the Law Communications Office at 419.530.2712 or lawcommunications@utoledo.edu.
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