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5 The First Chapter

About the Project

Visions of Progress is one facet of the ongoing work of the Holsinger Studio Portrait Project. We believe that seeing the lives of the African Americans who commissioned portraits from the Holsinger Studio in the context of local and national history is a vital contribution to understanding our shared past in Central Virginia. We are grateful that a generous grant from the Jefferson Trust will fund an extensive community engagement program.

 

VISIONS OF PROGRESS

Portraits of Dignity, Style and Racial Uplift

Woman wearing a skirt, jacket, and hat sitting in a chair. Image is black and white.
Portrait of Nellie Jones

An exhibition showcasing portraits that African Americans in Central Virginia commissioned from the Holsinger Studio[1] during the first decades of the twentieth century. The portraits expressed the individuality of the women and men who commissioned them and silently yet powerfully asserted the Black community’s claims to rights and equality.

 

Holsinger Studio Collection PBS program


  1. https://holsinger.iath.virginia.edu/
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