This page shows the earliest photographs in the Holsinger catalogue of African Americans. The exact date is unknown, but Rufus W. Hoslinger started photographing in Charlottesville in 1889/1890s, with the studio continuing under his son Ralph W. Holsinger through to the 1930's (and beyond, the studio itself open until the 1970's). 

The UVA Library catalogue, which holds all 10, 685 negatives/prints of the studio, has a range of dates. A very few photographs are from 1889 (the earliest dated is December 6, 1889); a few from 1895, 1908, 1909, and 1911, but the majority are from 1912-1919.

Of the portraits with a known date, the earliest known studio portrait of an African American in the Holsinger catalogue is of Bill Hurley, dated October 6, 1909. Of the non-studio photographs, the earliest dated image is "Henry Thomas Boiler Charlottesville," taken January 26, 1890. 

In the catalogue, the following may be the earliest photographs of African Americans. They have the labelled date of "~1889/1930," which means the exact date they were taken is unknown. Of all the undated photographs, however, they are labelled with the lowest numbers (i.e. U00037), which may be due to their estimated date. *NOTE, however, that more information is needed to determine the date of these images (i.e. how the images were labelled and organized by Holsinger originally, which may give more insight into their date). 

1) "Wedding;" exact date unknown; U00037C (library catalogue shows ~1889/1930). This portrait is relatively rare in being an outdoor group portrait, showing an African American employee with the family; and showing the young woman in a nursemaid outfit.

2) "Untitled," exact date unknown; U00091A (library catalogue shows ~1889/1930). 

3) "Horse (with House)," exact date unknown, U00341B (library catalogue shows ~1889/1930).
 

Sources

- "Wedding," ~1889 photograph in UVA Catalogue, U00037C 

-  "Untitled," ~1889 photograph in UVA Catalogue, U00091A

- "Horse (with House)," ~1889 photograph in UVA Catalogue, U00341B

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

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