Holsinger Studio Collection
The Holsinger Studio Collection constitutes a unique photographic record of life in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia, from before the turn of the century through World War I. The collection consists of approximately 9,000 dry-plate glass negatives and 500 celluloid negatives from the commercial studio of Rufus W. Holsinger (formerly located on the present site of Mel's Cafe) and is currently housed in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia. [1] Select images from the collection served as the focus of the “Visions of Progress: Portraits of Dignity, Style and Racial Uplift” exhibit that was organized by Professor John Edwin Mason of the UVA Corcoran Department of History and was on display at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library from 2022-2023.
The following individuals have their portrait photographs included within the collection:
- Henry Martin
- Bertha Austin
- Mary Truehart Woodfolk
- Alfred Washington
- William Hurley
- George R Ferguson Sr.
- George R Ferguson
- Lena Taylor Barbour
- Anthony T. Buckner (father of George W Buckner)
- Eileen Woods Buckner (daughter of George W Buckner)
- Alice Carter
- Bland Harris
- Nettie Powell (wife of Bland Harris)
- Burnett Watson
- Cain Hawkins
- Alice Wood Hawkins (wife of Cain Hawkins)
- Cleveland White
- Cora Murray Duke
- Cora Ross
- Daniel Brown
- Daniel Watson
- Frank W. Robertson
- Golden Coles
- Homer Ragland
- Horace Carter Miller Sr.
- Reuben Gordon
- Lafayette Johnson
- John Cosby
- Louise Cosby
- Margaret Lewis
- Susie Smith
- Tillie Washington
- Dorothy Zenobia Lias
- John Seay