"Esso Service Station, Charlottesville," two photographs including African Americans by Rufus W. Holsinger. The exact dates are not known (so, the date range given is 1920-1939; it may have been taken by son Ralph W. Holsinger).

There are five photographs total labelled "Esso Service Station"; the catalogue also states the station is at Fontaine Avenue.

The two photographs of interest are two poses of the same group, both white and black, before the Esso Station. There are two African American men, one in a "butler-style" uniform and the other in mechanic overalls; the three white men are also in the mechanic overalls. 

The two photographs are included here in that, although not studio 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 (for instance, how the men are posed in relation to one another; spatial distancing, informal and formal relationships, etc.) 

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: Y21935B1

Below: Y21935B2

Sources

- "Esso Service Station, Charlottesville," 1920-39 photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y21935B1)  

- "Esso Service Station, Charlottesville," 1920-39 photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y21935B2)

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

First published: November 19, 2020

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