Road Scenes Betts and Boyce
    by Julia Munro

"Road Scenes Betts and Boyce," five photographs taken by Rufus W. Holsinger on November 1, 1911. They show the paving of East High Street, Charlottesville.

The photographs appear in a sequence, showing the making of a road. The library catalogue states this is East High Street, Charlottesville being constructed/paved. Below are the two photographs that include African Americans (the final three just show the completed road). Betts and Boyce company was based in nearby Harrisonburg, Virginia (west of Charlottesville).

The first photograph (X05664B3) shows three laborers, the two in the foreground African American.

The second photograph (X05664B4) shows four laborers total.

These 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: X05664B3
Road Scenes Betts and Boyce

Below: X05664B4
Road Scenes Betts and Boyce
Sources

-  "Road Scenes Betts and Boyce," 1917-11-01, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (X05664B3)  

-  "Road Scenes Betts and Boyce," 1917-11-01, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (X05664B4)  

 

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 28). Road Scenes Betts and Boyce. Holsinger Portrait Project. https://juel.iath.virginia.edu/node/2009

  • MLA Citation:

    Munro, Julia F. "Road Scenes Betts and Boyce." Holsinger Portrait Project. Univ. Virginia (2022, February 28). Web. [Date accessed].

First published: January 12, 2021

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