In the early 1950s, Ulysses Davis (1914-1990) opened a barbershop he built behind his home in Savannah, Georgia. A whittler since boyhood, he soon began carving figures from wood in his spare time. He decorated the outside of his barbershop and filled the inside with his reliefs and freestanding carvings. During his lifetime, Davis created more than three hundred works, producing a varied but unified body of wood sculpture that reflects his faith, humor, and dignity.