Photograph Curator Daniel Davis Presents Inaugural Address

Daniel Davis, Utah State University photograph curator and associate librarian, delivered his Inaugural Address to friends, family and colleagues on Oct. 18.

Davis grew up in Worland, Wyo. and attended the University of Wyoming, where he earned a master’s degree in history in 1997. He went on to work as a photograph archivist at the American Heritage Center in Laramie before becoming the photograph curator with the Special Collection & Archives unit at Utah State University Libraries.

“I feel like I’ve had my ‘day in the sun,’ and I want to focus more on the physical and digital photo collections including acquisitions, storage, preservation, and processing,” Davis said. “When I first came to USU in 2000, I set a goal for myself to process all the existing photograph collections. Now, while I’ve accomplished about 65-70% of that goal, I really want to get them done in the next 10 years. 10 years seems like a long time, but then 2011 doesn’t seem that long ago either.”

Interested in 19th Century photography of the American West, Davis published “Across the Continent: The Union Pacific Railroad Photographs of Andrew J. Russell” in 2018. He was also a co-author with Glenn Willumson and Ken Burns for “Race To Promontory: Picturing the First Transcontinental Railroad”.

Davis curated the exhibit “A World Transformed: the Transcontinental Railroad and Utah” which opened at the Utah State Capitol on Jan. 23, 2019.

“I would say that my biggest challenge was to overcome a lot of anxiety and self-doubt and maybe that story resonates with others who also have the same anxieties and self-doubt,” Davis said. “Over the years, I have observed that people are usually their own worst enemies. You have to tackle your own demons first, and I feel pretty good that I’ve done a fair job with that.”

When he’s not working with the photograph collections or curating exhibits, Davis has also served as the instruction coordinator since 2014. He has mentored numerous interns and taught many classes.

“I have been lucky in helping several young people enter the profession and to be on a lot of Tenure and Promotion Committees,” Davis said. “I am at the point in life where I really enjoy seeing other people advance and succeed and it’s satisfying to think I had a small part in their success.”

In his free time, Davis enjoys time with his family.

“My focus now is to have a better work-life balance,” he said. “I want to spend more time with my wife and daughter, and to complete projects outside of work that have been put on hold for years.”