"Camp Blue Ridge," two photographs including African Americans by Rufus W. Holsinger, taken on on August 25, 1914 and August 25, 1915.

There are 24 photographs total labelled "Camp Blue Ridge," from 1913 to 1917, which show outdoor scenes, mostly of groups of young boys (in sports uniforms, swimming, etc.). The dates of the photos were: July 25, 1913; August 25, 1914; August 25, 1915; August 26, 1916; and August 30, 1917.

The two photographs of interest show an African American with a horse cart (August 25, 1914) and several African Americans in the background of a posed portrait before a building (one man is holding a large paper of which the text is illegible).

These two photographs are included here in that, although not posed portraits of African Americans, they show actual interactions between white and black citizens at a time when segregation due to Jim Crow laws was in play. They are highly valuable in providing "visual evidence" of that lived environment.

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). 

Below: X0255H3B

Below: X03452B2

Sources

- "Camp Blue Ridge," 1914-08-25 photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (X02553HB)

- "Camp Blue Ridge," 1915-08-25 photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (X03452B2)

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: October 25, 2020

Return to the Holsinger Main Page or African-American Portraiture List of Names