African American Lives In Four Rural Virginia Counties
The Washington, D.C. Public Library has large resources on African American life. Specifically, the library carries many of the Images of America local photographic histories that document African American communities from around the country. These books have a local market and would otherwise be difficult to find. I have been able to learn about many African American local communities through the resources of the public library.
I found through the library this recent Images of America book, "African Americans in Culpeper, Orange, Madison, and Rappahannock Counties" (2019) by author and museum curator Terry Miller. These four contiguous counties are located in north central Virginia in the Piedmont area. (The book includes useful maps.) James Madison's mansion, Montpelier, is located in Orange County and, of course, attracts many visitors. The book portrays African American lives from about 1855. The focus is on portraits of people and families. As Miller points out, the use of the camera was not a high priority to poor rural farmers trying to earn a living. Many of the portraits in the book are formalized and stylized, reflecting particular occasions such as military service.
The book opens with a short chapter "Where they Lived"that gives important background on the four counties, their histories and demographics. The book then shows African Americans in the counties and their lives over the years. Generally the book presents a portrait of an individual accompanied by a text giving a brief biography, including dates of birth and death, marriage, children, occupation, and significant life events. In this way individuals, families, and ways of life are remembered that might otherwise be forgotten.
The evocatively titled chapters showing people begin with a chapter, "When they Fought" showing individuals from the four counties going off to war, from the Civil War through the Korean War. The chapter "When they Plowed" shows people and their families engaged in the dominant activity in the four counties of farming. Many African Americans were able to acquire their own small farms where they eked out a difficult living. "Where they made a Home" offers portraits and biographies of women and of family life. A chapter titled "When they Chose another Profession" shows African Americans who were able to work outside of farming, including doctors, lawyers, blacksmiths, barbers, teaching, and business. "When they Went to School" includes portraits of teachers and of schools in the counties. In addition to showing students and teachers, this chapter describes many of the simple one-room schoolhouses for African Americans that dotted the counties. The final brief chapter, "When they Prayed" describes ministers, people active in their congregations, and churches.
The target audience for this book is particularized. With the many biographies and references to place, the book will appeal to those with roots in the four counties who will be reminded of their families and friends. A wider distribution can give a broader view. I was glad to read this moving, eloquent book for itself and to learn about the people it presented. I found it valuable to place this book in the context of other books I have read in the Images of America series about African American life. Through reading several of these books, a picture begins to emerge of local everyday life in African American communities in the United States that is outside the focus of broader-based studies of African American history. More broadly, the books on local African American communities combine with other books about local communities to offer a broad story of the fabric of local American life in its variety and in its commonality. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to explore this history as well as other community histories through the resources of the public library.
