Lightfoot, James
    by Julia Munro

ID/KEY: P48249

"James Lightfoot," a photograph by Rufus W. Holsinger taken on April 7, 1914.

From Family Photo Day, 9 March 2019: 

"Before it was the Albemarle Hotel, it was the Gleason Hotel. He was the head bellman - he made $5 per week which was big money. It was his job to assign the different employees their jobs every day." - Mr. Melvin Flannagan Jr., participant at Family Photo Day. 

The New Gleason Hotel (referred to as "New Gleason," of "New Hotel Gleason" after renovations) was located at 619 West Main St. It is on the Virginia Historic Register.

The 1914-15 Charlottesville City Directory lists a James Lightfoot living at "Ridge extd" (Ridge Street Extended), although it is not certain if this is the same person in question. It also lists a Joseph Lightfoot working as a "Bootblack" at 323 W Main in the same time period; he may or may not be related to James (to be determined). 

The J. F. Bell Funeral Home Database has an entry for an individual that may be related to the subject photographed below: "James Henry Lightfoot, born February 3, 1875 in Richmond Virginia to James and Minna (Carter) Lightfoot, spouse Mildred, died in Charlottesville and buried in Lincoln Cemetery." Given the age of the entrant in 1915 (39), he may be the parent of the individual photographed below. 

The tombstone for a James Henry Lightfoot is located in Lincoln Cemetery, owned by J. F. Bell Funeral Home. 

Additional information about James Lightfoot will be added as it is researched.

NOTE that the name with which the portrait is labelled (or, labelled "untitled") is not necessarily the name of the sitter(s) in the portrait, but rather the name of the person who paid for the portrait when it was taken (the date and name associated with each photograph is from the business ledgers of R. W. Holsinger).

Lightfoot, James

Some portraits by Holsinger show individuals in worker's clothing that do not indicate their job or trade (see, for example, Bud Brown), the sitters perhaps having come to get their portait taken in whatever clothing they were wearing at the time. Whether purposefully showcasing their occupation or not (choosing to be photographed "as is"), these are interesting acts of self-representation. It was not uncommon in this time period to choose to depict oneself in one's work clothing and with accessories/tools of the trade when sitting for a photo, known as "occupational portraits" (Finefield) - the one below, also by Holsinger, shows a railway worker (H. J. Morris, 1918-08-24, X06618A):
Morris, H. J.
Sources

- "James Lightfoot," 1914-04-07 photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (X02214A) 

- printed notes, flipbook vol. 4.1  

- comments from Family Photo Day courtesy Mr. Melvin Flannagan 

- Lincoln Cemetery, African-American Cemeteries of Albemarle and Amherst Counties, Prof. Lynn Rainville (2011) 

- Finefield, Kristi. "Profiling Portraits: Occupational Portraits of the Nineteenth Century," Library of Congress Prints and Photos

SEE ALSO:

Holsinger Image Gallery of African Americans

 

J. F. Bell Funeral Home Records

 

Charlottesville City Directory, 1914-15 [Hathi Trust] 

  

1870 & 1910 U. S. Census - Charlottesville & Esmont Communities

Cite This Entry
  • APA Citation:

    Munro, J.F. (2022, February 17). James Lightfoot. Holsinger Portrait Project. https://juel.iath.virginia.edu/node/1206

  • MLA Citation:

    Munro, Julia F. "James Lightfoot." Holsinger Portrait Project. Univ. Virginia (2022, February 17). Web. [Date accessed].

First published: April 26, 2020     


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