John Herbert Davis Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS0049

Staff Only

Content Description

The John Herbert Davis Papers consist of an autobiography, correspondence, speeches, broadcast text, reports, congressional testimony, photographs, periodical publications, term papers, school notes, master's degree thesis, Ph.D. thesis draft, programs, newspaper clippings, certificates signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, oral history tapes, Middle East material, and books authored by Davis.

Dates

Creation: 1905-1984
Creation: Majority of material found within 1938-1978

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Biographical Sketch

John Herbert Davis (1904-1988) worked as an agricultural economist with several U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies beginning in 1936, including the Resettlement Administration, the Farm Security Administration, and the Farm Credit Administration. From 1942 to 1944, he served as the chief of the Wheat Section, Grain Division of the Commodity Credit Corporation. After working outside of USDA for several years, Davis returned to USDA in 1953 as the president and director of the Commodity Credit Corporation. In June 1953, he became the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, initially responsible for commodity marketing and adjustment activities, and then responsible for the Foreign Agricultural Service and Agricultural Marketing Service. From 1957 to 1959, he served as a consultant in the Foreign Agricultural Service, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and director of the New York office of the American University of Beirut (dates unknown).