The black-and-white images taken by photographer Rufus W. Holsinger a century ago still resonate, in part, because they remain so recognizable.
In many ways, the Charlottesville Holsinger documented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is far removed from the one we know today. The Downtown Mall did not yet exist, except as a busy street; ladies wore long, full dresses and large hats; the Corner was just that, a corner, small and barren in comparison with its modern incarnation.
But in looking at Holsinger’s work today, we can see the city both as it was and as it is. Things have changed, yes, but much remains the same. We see people who are long gone, but we can relate to the lives they led and appreciate our position in the history of our city.
The Daily Progress today brings you a selection of Holsinger’s works and, for comparison, similar views of Charlottesville as it stands today. Click on the gallery to view the images; you are certain to see how much has changed, but you may be surprised by what has not.
About Holsinger:
Rufus W. Holsinger came to Charlottesville from Pennsylvania in the late 1880s, according to the University of Virginia. He established his University Studio on West Main Street and set to work.
Perhaps his best-known works today are his views of the Rotunda and the fire there on Oct. 27, 1895. He captured the high drama of the devastating blaze, with the building’s dome obscured in smoke and flame while a crowd looks on.
But Holsinger also captured innumerable scenes of the more mundane. Landscapes, street shots, pictures of people going about their daily lives. In one image, a lone car sits not so much parked as simply deposited by the side of the road, angled in a way that would warrant a ticket today. It is the one and only car to be seen in the expansive West Main thoroughfare, almost unthinkable today.
Notably, Holsinger’s works included pictures of many of local residents, including hundreds of black residents. Some of his subjects’ names have been forgotten, but their faces live on.
Holsinger himself died in 1930, and some of his negatives were lost even before his death. A studio fire in 1912 destroyed his early business ledgers and some negatives, according to UVa. But in the 1970s, the surviving negatives, ranging in size from 5x7 to 14x17, were removed to the UVa Library’s Special Collections.
Digitized versions of his works can now be seen online at www2.lib.virginia.edu/small/collections/holsinger.
About the project:
Holsinger photos courtesy the University of Virginia Library Special Collections. Modern recreations by Daily Progress photographers Andrew Shurtleff and Sabrina Schaeffer.
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