"LaRowe Pool Room, UVA," a photograph by Rufus W. Holsinger taken on August 22, 1912. 

The photograph shows three figures in total; at the far back, center, is an African-American employee in a white coat. The book, Holsinger's Charlottesville: A Collection of Photographs identifies the man in the foreground as the owner, John LaRowe, who was a oxing instructor at UVA for almost twenty years. 

This photograph is included here in that, although not a posed studio portrait of African Americans, it shows everyday occurences in Charlottesville, or actual interactions between white and black citizens at a time when segregation due to Jim Crow laws was in play. It is 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). 
Sources

- "LaRowe Pool Room, UVA" 1912-08-22 photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (X00496B)

- Clover, Wendell Cecile and Heblich Jr., F. T., Holsinger's Charlottesville: A Collection of Photographs by Rufus W. Holsinger. Charlottesville: Art Restoration Services, 1995.  

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: October 2, 2020

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