"Cinder Block Corporation," three photographs taken by Ralph W. Holsinger (Rufus W. Holsinger's son), date unknown (the UVA Library catalogue shows the unknown date as 1920~/1939~).

The three photographs show white and black laborers at an unidentified building site. Because the photographs were labelled according to whom paid for the portraits (in this instance, the Cinder Block Corporation), presumably, the photos were capturing the men at work and the progress of the building.

The first photograph (Y21093B) shows five men total, four of whom are African American men.

The second photograph (Y21093B2) shows six men total, and the third photograph (Y21093B3) shows seven men total. It is unclear which men are African American in the latter two images (due to the lighting/shadows, and some men being obscured behind others).

The photographs are included here in that, although not posed studio portraits of African Americans, they do 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.

More details will be added as they are found.

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: Y21093B

Below: Y21093B2

Below: Y21093B3

Sources

- "Cinder Block Corporation," date unknown, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y21093B)  

- "Cinder Block Corporation," date unknown, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y21093B2) 

- "Cinder Block Corporation" date unknown, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y21093B3)  

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 9, 2020

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