IATH NEWS

Holsinger's African American Portraits Subject of Family Photo Day

March 6, 2019

This Saturday, March 9, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) in Charlottesville is hosting a Family Photo Day event centered around Rufus Holsinger’s photographic portraits of local African American residents during the Jim Crow era. The event is co-sponsored by IATH, Virginia Humanities, UVA, and JSAAHC, and will include more than 500 photos from the UVA Library's Holsinger Collection. We are reaching out to the local community, and asking for help identifying the subjects of the photos: in most cases, we know the date that the photo was taken and who paid for it, but we are hoping to draw on local memories and family stories. We are also encouraging people to bring their family photos and photo albums in, to help us develop a better sense of history of the African American communities both in Charlottesville and the local region. The event will include free family portraits, archival advice for preserving old family photos, and much more.

It is free and open to the public, and runs from 10am-3pm on March 9 at JSAAHC (233 4th St NW, Charlottesville).

For more about the event, see RWHolsingerPhotos.org, or follow it on Twitter and Instagram.