"National Bank Building Under Construction," 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 black and white laborers at work on site at the National Bank Building in the "central business district" (on present-day downtown mall, Charlottesville).

The first photograph (Y08287BB) shows four young men total, three of whom are African American men. There are other men photographed, but they were caught in action and hence, blurred. Note that this first photograph is labelled "Untitled" in the UVA Library Catalogue (and is not categorized by the "African American" keyword).

The second (Y08287B) and third photograph (Y08287AB) (the latter of which is a duplicate), shows four African American laborers, facing away from the camera. 

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: Y08287BB

Below: Y08287B

Below: Y08287ab

Sources

- "Untitled (National Bank Building Under Construction," date unknown, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y08287BB)  

- "National Bank Building Under Construction," date unknown, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y08287AB)  

- "National Bank Building Under Construction," date unknown, photograph in UVA Library Catalogue (Y08287B) 

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