JUEL ID/KEY: P48261

Untitled (Dr. Johnson), photograph taken by Rufus W. Holsinger on April 29, 1912.

Comments from Family Photo Day, 9 March 2019: 

"This is Dr. Johnson. He had an office on 4th St in a building that's still standing - it's a house for the homeless now. Two black doctors lived next door to each other - the other doctor's name was Dr. Jackson - he was a dentist. Dr. Johnson would come around to your house - he was a family practitioner." - Mr. Melvin Flannagan Jr., participant at Family Photo Day.  

Dr. George R. Johnson was listed in the Charlottesville City Directory, 1914-15 as a doctor working from an office located at 115 4th N W (PL9573) (p. 209). Other businesses/owners photographed by Holsinger include Acme Shaving Parlor, William F. and Charles H. Brown (Brown Barber Shop), A. T. Buckner (and son George F. Buckner, grocers), George Carr's Second Hand Clothing, Dr. George F. Ferguson, Dr. George R. Johnson, Mr. J. P. Hawkins, W. G. Layne (Layne and Whitlock, Wheelright/Blacksmith), J.F. Taylor, and D. J. Ward. See "Freedman's Tally" for more information about African Americans operating businesses in the Jim Crow Era.

A tombstone for Dr. George Johnson can be seen here, at the Lincoln Cemetery (owned by the J. F. Bell Funeral Home, in Albemarle County). 

Additional information about Dr. Johnson will be added as it is researched. *Note: the image is labelled "untitled" in the Holsinger catalogue, and so can't be found if searching by the name "Dr. Johnson" (use ID #X00167A).

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).
Sources

- "Untitled (Dr. Johnson)," 1912-04-29 photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (X00167A) 

- printed notes, flipbook vol. 7.2 

- comments from Family Photo Day courtesy Mr. Melvin Flannagan, Jr. 

- Charlottesville City Directory, 1914-15 [Hathi Trust] p. 209

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

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

First published: April 6, 2019     

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