Kitty Snow, Broker, GRI, C.S. A.
(804) 794-2603
kittysnow@comcast.net
(804) 794-2603
kittysnow@comcast.net
RICHMOND IN SIGHT...What’s that?
My great-grandfather, Harris Stilson, was a Richmond streetcar man in the early 1900s but he was also a photographer who never set his camera down. I inherited his collection of photos and realized that I hold an incredible treasure, a piece of history not well-documented. He photographed all of Richmond, with emphasis on Jackson Ward and Carver. Harry recorded routine activities and historic events including the return of African-American troops from World War I.
People would flag the streetcar down and ask him to take a family picture. Harry’s more historic photographs include Maggie Walker’s St. Luke Band members, Hartshorn College students on campus, and the Church Hill Tunnel before it collapsed. The ‘ordinary’ pictures of mule-drawn wagons, cobblestone work, rabbi on the street, a woman balancing a laundry basket on her head, and more really aren’t ‘ordinary’...they’re our past, often forgotten but precious just the same.
In researching these pictures, I’ve sought help from many sources and found that people are captivated by them. Showing a picture to one person becomes a community affair with people reminiscing and passing photos around. Little visual record of African-American and Jewish life of the early 1900s of Richmond has survived and these pictures are priceless. The memories of its residents are even more precious and are disappearing rapidly as our older Richmonders pass away or become unable to recall those long-ago times. I am collecting oral histories of these very senior citizens and time is my worst enemy. The other struggle is finding the financial resources to continue this work, which is overwhelming and expensive.
My desire to share this rare collection evolved into a non-profit partnership with VCU Libraries to restore and preserve the Stilson photos. Richmond In Sight was created not only to preserve but to share this glimpse of Richmond’s past through presentations in schools, community associations, and other venues, with online service and books. I’m trying to identify hundreds of unnamed African Americans and Jews in Harry’s photos and to record family stories of those we locate. I have identified some already. Oral histories, lost forever when the storyteller dies, are being heard, recorded and transcribed to share.
The collection includes photos of other places (Niagra Falls, Virginia Beach, Michigan, for example) and events (President Harding at Yorktown's sesquicentennial celebration, WWI Gold Star Mother's pilgrimage to France to see their sons' graves, dedications and parades) that lead to other projects. I'm still identifying and locating materials for even more.
Two of the movies Harry Stilson filmed in 1929-1931, using an early color process, are being restored through a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. VCU will restore the rest of the movies as grants and donations allow. Quoting Wesley Chenault, head of Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library’s press release: “The Stilson work is a unique treasure. Film footage of the city is rare and our research indicates that these films are among the oldest, if not the oldest, held by any local or regional cultural institution in the commonwealth.”
My first book, From a Richmond Streetcar, will be available from Dietz Press November 1, 2012. I’ll be signing books at the Beth Ahabah Museum table at the Science Museum November 1-3 as part of Richmond’s annual 14-museum holiday gift shopping event. Harry’s materials should feel right at home there since he took photos of Union Station (Broad Street Station/The Science Museum) during construction and afterwards!
The second book, combining history, pictures and oral histories of residents of Jackson Ward and Carver, is in progress now. We’re scheduling presentations and other events and have been invited to share this material in some pretty amazing venues.
In order to proceed with research, preservation of this collection and development of these projects, we need help. It’s a massive project and an expensive one. We’re hoping that corporate and private donations will speed our work so if you’re interested or would like to schedule a presentation, Richmond In Sight information is available below. If you have access to a corporate ear, whisper our name in it.
If you would like to contact RIS, you can call (804) 794-2603 or email Richmondinsight@comcast.net. Please contact us if you know someone we can interview or if you have suggestions for projects. We need help with identifications, transcribing, and other facets of our projects as well. In other words, we’ll take any help we can get. Thank you!
Richmond In Sight is in a non-profit partnership with VCU Libraries for the restoration and preservation of the Stilson film collection from the early 1900s. Donations may be mailed to the following address. Please specify Richmond In Sight on memo line or in address. Thank you.
VCU Libraries
Richmond In Sight
PO Box 842033
901 Park Avenue
Richmond, VA 23284-2033
My great-grandfather, Harris Stilson, was a Richmond streetcar man in the early 1900s but he was also a photographer who never set his camera down. I inherited his collection of photos and realized that I hold an incredible treasure, a piece of history not well-documented. He photographed all of Richmond, with emphasis on Jackson Ward and Carver. Harry recorded routine activities and historic events including the return of African-American troops from World War I.
People would flag the streetcar down and ask him to take a family picture. Harry’s more historic photographs include Maggie Walker’s St. Luke Band members, Hartshorn College students on campus, and the Church Hill Tunnel before it collapsed. The ‘ordinary’ pictures of mule-drawn wagons, cobblestone work, rabbi on the street, a woman balancing a laundry basket on her head, and more really aren’t ‘ordinary’...they’re our past, often forgotten but precious just the same.
In researching these pictures, I’ve sought help from many sources and found that people are captivated by them. Showing a picture to one person becomes a community affair with people reminiscing and passing photos around. Little visual record of African-American and Jewish life of the early 1900s of Richmond has survived and these pictures are priceless. The memories of its residents are even more precious and are disappearing rapidly as our older Richmonders pass away or become unable to recall those long-ago times. I am collecting oral histories of these very senior citizens and time is my worst enemy. The other struggle is finding the financial resources to continue this work, which is overwhelming and expensive.
My desire to share this rare collection evolved into a non-profit partnership with VCU Libraries to restore and preserve the Stilson photos. Richmond In Sight was created not only to preserve but to share this glimpse of Richmond’s past through presentations in schools, community associations, and other venues, with online service and books. I’m trying to identify hundreds of unnamed African Americans and Jews in Harry’s photos and to record family stories of those we locate. I have identified some already. Oral histories, lost forever when the storyteller dies, are being heard, recorded and transcribed to share.
The collection includes photos of other places (Niagra Falls, Virginia Beach, Michigan, for example) and events (President Harding at Yorktown's sesquicentennial celebration, WWI Gold Star Mother's pilgrimage to France to see their sons' graves, dedications and parades) that lead to other projects. I'm still identifying and locating materials for even more.
Two of the movies Harry Stilson filmed in 1929-1931, using an early color process, are being restored through a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. VCU will restore the rest of the movies as grants and donations allow. Quoting Wesley Chenault, head of Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library’s press release: “The Stilson work is a unique treasure. Film footage of the city is rare and our research indicates that these films are among the oldest, if not the oldest, held by any local or regional cultural institution in the commonwealth.”
My first book, From a Richmond Streetcar, will be available from Dietz Press November 1, 2012. I’ll be signing books at the Beth Ahabah Museum table at the Science Museum November 1-3 as part of Richmond’s annual 14-museum holiday gift shopping event. Harry’s materials should feel right at home there since he took photos of Union Station (Broad Street Station/The Science Museum) during construction and afterwards!
The second book, combining history, pictures and oral histories of residents of Jackson Ward and Carver, is in progress now. We’re scheduling presentations and other events and have been invited to share this material in some pretty amazing venues.
In order to proceed with research, preservation of this collection and development of these projects, we need help. It’s a massive project and an expensive one. We’re hoping that corporate and private donations will speed our work so if you’re interested or would like to schedule a presentation, Richmond In Sight information is available below. If you have access to a corporate ear, whisper our name in it.
If you would like to contact RIS, you can call (804) 794-2603 or email Richmondinsight@comcast.net. Please contact us if you know someone we can interview or if you have suggestions for projects. We need help with identifications, transcribing, and other facets of our projects as well. In other words, we’ll take any help we can get. Thank you!
Richmond In Sight is in a non-profit partnership with VCU Libraries for the restoration and preservation of the Stilson film collection from the early 1900s. Donations may be mailed to the following address. Please specify Richmond In Sight on memo line or in address. Thank you.
VCU Libraries
Richmond In Sight
PO Box 842033
901 Park Avenue
Richmond, VA 23284-2033
