Camille Davis

Camille Davis is the inaugural H. Ross Perot Sr. Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Presidential History.  Her role within CPH is multi-faceted. She works on an oral history project that studies the life and career of Ross Perot Sr., and she assesses concepts of American leadership and  American identity during the nation's founding and early republic through the lens of visual and intellectual history. Her book project is called Visual Prestige: The Role of Portraiture in Shaping the Nascent Identity of American Leadership.

Camille's research on portraiture and leadership was featured at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in fall 2022. Additionally, between 2020 and 2022, she held multiple fellowships with the renowned Winterthur Museum, an organization that provided Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy with assistance during her renovation of the White House. 

Camille is a contributing author to the forthcoming volume called Mourning the Presidents, a joint publication of the University of Virginia Press, the White House Historical Association, and the Center for Presidential History.  Camille's chapter within the volume is called "The Death of Zachary Taylor: Mourning a Soldier, Losing a President."

Camille successfully defended her dissertation in August 2022 and began working with CPH in September 2022. While earning her doctorate, Camille served in various roles on campus, some of which were  Senior Editor of the history graduate student blog called The Future of the Past,  project manager for the  Voices of  SMU oral history project, and member of the SMU Libraries Student Advisory Board. During her PhD candidate qualifying exams, she earned the rare commendation of "distinction."

In 2015, Camille earned a master's degree in history from the University of North Texas, Denton. Her master's thesis focused upon the ways in which England's landmark slavery case, known as the Somerset Trial, impacted discourses on liberty and governance during the American Revolution. She was ranked in the top 10 percent of her class and inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi and Delta Epsilon Iota honor societies. Camille  earned a BA in journalism with a minor in history from Baylor University. While at Baylor, Camille's arts and culture column for the Baylor Lariat earned a place on the collegiate national newswire.  

Camille is also an alum of the Institute on Political Journalism at Georgetown University.

Camille has written for D Magazine, D Weddings, and Black Bride Magazine. Additionally, she has written and edited extensively for the Nike athletic brand. 

Camille curates a visual culture website called Joie de Visual, "The Joy of the Visual." 

Camille welcomes inquiries about history and/or aesthetics at camilled@mail.smu.edu and info@joiedevisual.com.