{"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8","prev":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=7","last":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":8,"next_page":null,"prev_page":7,"total_pages":8,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":70,"total_count":75,"first_page?":false,"last_page?":true}},"data":[{"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c14","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Sub-series XVII: White\n People.","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c14#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eConsists of black and white and color prints in various sizes of white people. Durant placed in this category all photography featuring white people, whether the images were of families or of a business or organization. The sub-series encompasses portraits and special events, parades and other activities at the College of William and Mary, and white people working at businesses, participating in clubs, or socializing at nightclubs.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c14#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c14","ref_ssm":["viwc_viwc00100_c01_c14"],"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c14","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_ids_ssim":["viwc_viwc00100","viwc_viwc00100_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"White\n                  People.","title_ssm":["Sub-series XVII: White\n People."],"title_tesim":["Sub-series XVII: White\n People."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Sub-series XVII: White\n People."],"text":["Sub-series XVII: White\n People.","Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints.","30 folders","Box-folder 9:8-10:a","Arranged alphabetically in broad subject\n                  categories.","Consists of black and white and color prints in\n                  various sizes of white people. Durant placed in this\n                  category all photography featuring white people,\n                  whether the images were of families or of a business\n                  or organization. The sub-series encompasses portraits\n                  and special events, parades and other activities at\n                  the College of William and Mary, and white people\n                  working at businesses, participating in clubs, or\n                  socializing at nightclubs.","This sub-series also includes photos of the Queen\n                  Mother's visit to Williamsburg on November 12-14,\n                  1954, as well as visits of Queen Elizabeth and the\n                  Prince of Japan. In addition, it contains black and\n                  white and color photos of various members of the\n                  Rockefeller family during visits to Williamsburg.\n                  Durant also placed some of his record photography of\n                  policemen performing investigations in this\n                  category."],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":64,"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"physdesc_tesim":["30 folders"],"containers_ssim":["Box-folder 9:8-10:a"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":22,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArranged alphabetically in broad subject\n                  categories.\u003c/p\u003e\n          "],"arrangement_tesim":["Arranged alphabetically in broad subject\n                  categories."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eConsists of black and white and color prints in\n                  various sizes of white people. Durant placed in this\n                  category all photography featuring white people,\n                  whether the images were of families or of a business\n                  or organization. The sub-series encompasses portraits\n                  and special events, parades and other activities at\n                  the College of William and Mary, and white people\n                  working at businesses, participating in clubs, or\n                  socializing at nightclubs.\u003c/p\u003e\n            ","\u003cp\u003eThis sub-series also includes photos of the Queen\n                  Mother's visit to Williamsburg on November 12-14,\n                  1954, as well as visits of Queen Elizabeth and the\n                  Prince of Japan. In addition, it contains black and\n                  white and color photos of various members of the\n                  Rockefeller family during visits to Williamsburg.\n                  Durant also placed some of his record photography of\n                  policemen performing investigations in this\n                  category.\u003c/p\u003e\n          "],"scopecontent_tesim":["Consists of black and white and color prints in\n                  various sizes of white people. Durant placed in this\n                  category all photography featuring white people,\n                  whether the images were of families or of a business\n                  or organization. The sub-series encompasses portraits\n                  and special events, parades and other activities at\n                  the College of William and Mary, and white people\n                  working at businesses, participating in clubs, or\n                  socializing at nightclubs.","This sub-series also includes photos of the Queen\n                  Mother's visit to Williamsburg on November 12-14,\n                  1954, as well as visits of Queen Elizabeth and the\n                  Prince of Japan. In addition, it contains black and\n                  white and color photos of various members of the\n                  Rockefeller family during visits to Williamsburg.\n                  Durant also placed some of his record photography of\n                  policemen performing investigations in this\n                  category."],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#13","timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/cw/viwc00100.xml","title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"text":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","AV-92.1","Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs.","34 boxes (14 linear ft.)","There are no restrictions.","This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers","Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.","In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.","The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.","The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.","Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["AV-92.1"],"unitid_tesim":["AV-92.1"],"repository_ssm":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"creator_ssm":["Albert Durant."],"creator_ssim":["Albert Durant."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"creators_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Purchase, 1991."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["34 boxes (14 linear ft.)"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 1. Photoprints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 2. Negatives \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 3. Slides \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 4. Oversize Prints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 5. Personal Papers\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAt age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eIn addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"prefercite_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation"],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.\u003c/p\u003e\n        ","\u003cp\u003ePhotoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eThe collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eVarious clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eA popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOccupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eColonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         \u003ctitle type=\"simple\" render=\"doublequote\" href=\"\"\u003eThe Story of a Patriot,\u003c/title\u003e\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eCrime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOther local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlthough this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights/ Restrictions on Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract label=\"Abstract\"\u003eCollections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n      "],"abstract_tesim":["Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s."],"corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"names_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":187,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c14"}},{"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c13","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Sub-series XVI: Williamsburg\n Scene.","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c13#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eContains black and white and color prints in various sizes recording events in and around Colonial Williamsburg, as well as community events organized by the city of Williamsburg. This sub-series encompasses a few photos of buildings in the Historic Area and also features photos of both white and African American costumed interpreters. In addition, it includes aerial views of Williamsburg and scenes of homes and neighborhoods throughout the city.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c13#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c13","ref_ssm":["viwc_viwc00100_c01_c13"],"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c13","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_ids_ssim":["viwc_viwc00100","viwc_viwc00100_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Williamsburg\n                  Scene.","title_ssm":["Sub-series XVI: Williamsburg\n Scene."],"title_tesim":["Sub-series XVI: Williamsburg\n Scene."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Sub-series XVI: Williamsburg\n Scene."],"text":["Sub-series XVI: Williamsburg\n Scene.","Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints.","5 folders.","Box-folder 9:3-9:8","Contains black and white and color prints in\n                  various sizes recording events in and around Colonial\n                  Williamsburg, as well as community events organized\n                  by the city of Williamsburg. This sub-series\n                  encompasses a few photos of buildings in the Historic\n                  Area and also features photos of both white and\n                  African American costumed interpreters. In addition,\n                  it includes aerial views of Williamsburg and scenes\n                  of homes and neighborhoods throughout the city."],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":56,"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"physdesc_tesim":["5 folders."],"containers_ssim":["Box-folder 9:3-9:8"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":7,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eContains black and white and color prints in\n                  various sizes recording events in and around Colonial\n                  Williamsburg, as well as community events organized\n                  by the city of Williamsburg. This sub-series\n                  encompasses a few photos of buildings in the Historic\n                  Area and also features photos of both white and\n                  African American costumed interpreters. In addition,\n                  it includes aerial views of Williamsburg and scenes\n                  of homes and neighborhoods throughout the city.\u003c/p\u003e\n          "],"scopecontent_tesim":["Contains black and white and color prints in\n                  various sizes recording events in and around Colonial\n                  Williamsburg, as well as community events organized\n                  by the city of Williamsburg. This sub-series\n                  encompasses a few photos of buildings in the Historic\n                  Area and also features photos of both white and\n                  African American costumed interpreters. In addition,\n                  it includes aerial views of Williamsburg and scenes\n                  of homes and neighborhoods throughout the city."],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#12","timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/cw/viwc00100.xml","title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"text":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","AV-92.1","Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs.","34 boxes (14 linear ft.)","There are no restrictions.","This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers","Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.","In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.","The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.","The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.","Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["AV-92.1"],"unitid_tesim":["AV-92.1"],"repository_ssm":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"creator_ssm":["Albert Durant."],"creator_ssim":["Albert Durant."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"creators_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Purchase, 1991."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["34 boxes (14 linear ft.)"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 1. Photoprints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 2. Negatives \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 3. Slides \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 4. Oversize Prints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 5. Personal Papers\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAt age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eIn addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"prefercite_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation"],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.\u003c/p\u003e\n        ","\u003cp\u003ePhotoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eThe collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eVarious clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eA popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOccupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eColonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         \u003ctitle type=\"simple\" render=\"doublequote\" href=\"\"\u003eThe Story of a Patriot,\u003c/title\u003e\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eCrime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOther local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlthough this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights/ Restrictions on Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract label=\"Abstract\"\u003eCollections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n      "],"abstract_tesim":["Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s."],"corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"names_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":187,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c13"}},{"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c12","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Sub-series XV: Pic\n Copying.","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c12#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eIncludes black and white copy prints Durant made from old photographs for various clients. Although these images are not as crisp as direct prints, they do provide some interesting examples of early twentieth century African American portraits and reveal another facet of Durant's photography business.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c12#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c12","ref_ssm":["viwc_viwc00100_c01_c12"],"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c12","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_ids_ssim":["viwc_viwc00100","viwc_viwc00100_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Pic\n                  Copying.","title_ssm":["Sub-series XV: Pic\n Copying."],"title_tesim":["Sub-series XV: Pic\n Copying."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Sub-series XV: Pic\n Copying."],"text":["Sub-series XV: Pic\n Copying.","Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints.","2 folders.","Folder 9:1-9:2","Includes black and white copy prints Durant made\n                  from old photographs for various clients. Although\n                  these images are not as crisp as direct prints, they\n                  do provide some interesting examples of early\n                  twentieth century African American portraits and\n                  reveal another facet of Durant's photography\n                  business."],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":53,"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"physdesc_tesim":["2 folders."],"containers_ssim":["Folder 9:1-9:2"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":2,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIncludes black and white copy prints Durant made\n                  from old photographs for various clients. Although\n                  these images are not as crisp as direct prints, they\n                  do provide some interesting examples of early\n                  twentieth century African American portraits and\n                  reveal another facet of Durant's photography\n                  business.\u003c/p\u003e\n          "],"scopecontent_tesim":["Includes black and white copy prints Durant made\n                  from old photographs for various clients. Although\n                  these images are not as crisp as direct prints, they\n                  do provide some interesting examples of early\n                  twentieth century African American portraits and\n                  reveal another facet of Durant's photography\n                  business."],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#11","timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/cw/viwc00100.xml","title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"text":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","AV-92.1","Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs.","34 boxes (14 linear ft.)","There are no restrictions.","This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers","Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.","In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.","The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.","The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.","Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["AV-92.1"],"unitid_tesim":["AV-92.1"],"repository_ssm":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"creator_ssm":["Albert Durant."],"creator_ssim":["Albert Durant."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"creators_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Purchase, 1991."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["34 boxes (14 linear ft.)"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 1. Photoprints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 2. Negatives \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 3. Slides \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 4. Oversize Prints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 5. Personal Papers\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAt age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eIn addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"prefercite_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation"],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.\u003c/p\u003e\n        ","\u003cp\u003ePhotoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eThe collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eVarious clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eA popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOccupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eColonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         \u003ctitle type=\"simple\" render=\"doublequote\" href=\"\"\u003eThe Story of a Patriot,\u003c/title\u003e\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eCrime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOther local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlthough this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights/ Restrictions on Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract label=\"Abstract\"\u003eCollections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n      "],"abstract_tesim":["Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s."],"corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"names_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":187,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c12"}},{"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c15","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Sub-series XX: Churches.","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c15#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eIncludes 5x7 and 8x10 inch black and white prints of African American churches in Williamsburg, Grove, Lightfoot, Grafton, Smithfield, and other communities. These prints record such rituals as baptisms and communion, as well as ministers preaching and interacting with congregations. In addition, they include many group portraits of choirs, usher boards, Sunday school classes, and women's missionary circles. Churches and groups which have been identified include First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, New Zion Baptist Church in Lightfoot, Oak Tree Church, St. John's Church, the Shiloh Church Choir, the Lily of the Valley Club, and the Smithfield Church Club.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c15#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c15","ref_ssm":["viwc_viwc00100_c01_c15"],"id":"viwc_viwc00100_c01_c15","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100_c01","parent_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_ids_ssim":["viwc_viwc00100","viwc_viwc00100_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Churches.","title_ssm":["Sub-series XX: Churches."],"title_tesim":["Sub-series XX: Churches."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Sub-series XX: Churches."],"text":["Sub-series XX: Churches.","Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints.","5 folders.","Box-folder 11:1-11:5","Includes 5x7 and 8x10 inch black and white prints\n                  of African American churches in Williamsburg, Grove,\n                  Lightfoot, Grafton, Smithfield, and other\n                  communities. These prints record such rituals as\n                  baptisms and communion, as well as ministers\n                  preaching and interacting with congregations. In\n                  addition, they include many group portraits of\n                  choirs, usher boards, Sunday school classes, and\n                  women's missionary circles. Churches and groups which\n                  have been identified include First Baptist Church in\n                  Williamsburg, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Mt. Gilead\n                  Baptist Church in Grove, New Zion Baptist Church in\n                  Lightfoot, Oak Tree Church, St. John's Church, the\n                  Shiloh Church Choir, the Lily of the Valley Club, and\n                  the Smithfield Church Club."],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","Series I: Photoprints."],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":87,"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"physdesc_tesim":["5 folders."],"containers_ssim":["Box-folder 11:1-11:5"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":2,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIncludes 5x7 and 8x10 inch black and white prints\n                  of African American churches in Williamsburg, Grove,\n                  Lightfoot, Grafton, Smithfield, and other\n                  communities. These prints record such rituals as\n                  baptisms and communion, as well as ministers\n                  preaching and interacting with congregations. In\n                  addition, they include many group portraits of\n                  choirs, usher boards, Sunday school classes, and\n                  women's missionary circles. Churches and groups which\n                  have been identified include First Baptist Church in\n                  Williamsburg, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Mt. Gilead\n                  Baptist Church in Grove, New Zion Baptist Church in\n                  Lightfoot, Oak Tree Church, St. John's Church, the\n                  Shiloh Church Choir, the Lily of the Valley Club, and\n                  the Smithfield Church Club.\u003c/p\u003e\n          "],"scopecontent_tesim":["Includes 5x7 and 8x10 inch black and white prints\n                  of African American churches in Williamsburg, Grove,\n                  Lightfoot, Grafton, Smithfield, and other\n                  communities. These prints record such rituals as\n                  baptisms and communion, as well as ministers\n                  preaching and interacting with congregations. In\n                  addition, they include many group portraits of\n                  choirs, usher boards, Sunday school classes, and\n                  women's missionary circles. Churches and groups which\n                  have been identified include First Baptist Church in\n                  Williamsburg, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Mt. Gilead\n                  Baptist Church in Grove, New Zion Baptist Church in\n                  Lightfoot, Oak Tree Church, St. John's Church, the\n                  Shiloh Church Choir, the Lily of the Valley Club, and\n                  the Smithfield Church Club."],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#14","timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00100","_root_":"viwc_viwc00100","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00100","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/cw/viwc00100.xml","title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"text":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","AV-92.1","Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs.","34 boxes (14 linear ft.)","There are no restrictions.","This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers","Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.","In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.","The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.","The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.","Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"collection_ssim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century."],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["AV-92.1"],"unitid_tesim":["AV-92.1"],"repository_ssm":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"creator_ssm":["Albert Durant."],"creator_ssim":["Albert Durant."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"creators_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991.","Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Purchase, 1991."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Accidents--Virginia--Williamsburg-- Photographs.","African\n            American photographers--Virginia--Williamsburg.","African\n            American students--Virginia-- Photographs.","African\n            American\n            students--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","African\n            Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg--Social life and\n            customs--Photographs.","Crime--Virginia--Williamsburg--Photographs.","Disasters--\n            Virginia--Williamsburg- -Photographs."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["34 boxes (14 linear ft.)"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 1. Photoprints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 2. Negatives \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 3. Slides \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 4. Oversize Prints \n         \u003clb\u003e\u003c/lb\u003eSeries 5. Personal Papers\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Organization"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection has been organized into 5 series: \n         Series 1. Photoprints \n         Series 2. Negatives \n         Series 3. Slides \n         Series 4. Oversize Prints \n         Series 5. Personal Papers"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAt age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eIn addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New\n         York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native\n         of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and\n         worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of\n         her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie\n         Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia\n         in 1929.","At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August\n         18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron\n         Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant\n         and Deanna Ferguson.","Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine\n         business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many\n         distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother\n         of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices.\n         He often took his customers on excursions to local historic\n         sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the\n         James River plantations. Through course work at the College of\n         William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American\n         history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as\n         he drove customers through the countryside.","Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary\n         sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had\n         obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own\n         historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city\n         licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced\n         hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities\n         of African-American residents and also documented significant\n         events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.","In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various\n         positions in the city's government. He acted as the first\n         black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in\n         Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the\n         General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his\n         retirement in 1975.","Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"prefercite_tesim":["Albert Durant Photography Collection, AV Collection\n            AV-92.1, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation"],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.\u003c/p\u003e\n        ","\u003cp\u003ePhotoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["In processing this collection, an effort has been made\n            to preserve the organization Durant used for his\n            photographic materials. Negatives arrived in good order,\n            filed in metal cabinets with index tabs identifying broad\n            subject categories and individual identifications on\n            negative envelopes providing more specific information.\n            This arrangement is recorded in the computerized negative\n            log, which was prepared by taking negatives from the\n            drawers in consecutive order and entering their\n            identifications into the computer.","Photoprints, slides, and oversize prints arrived in\n            boxes in a less discernible order. They have been sorted\n            and filed according to the subject categories Durant used\n            for his negatives. Framed photos were removed from their\n            frames except for those which were fused to the glass. Most\n            photos were also removed from acidic mats, unless the mats\n            were considered to have artifactual significance. In\n            instances where there more than two copies of the same\n            image in a particular format, the two images in the best\n            condition were selected for retention and the others were\n            returned to the donor. Slides, negatives, and prints which\n            were extremely deteriorated were also weeded out of the\n            collection."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eThe collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eVarious clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eA popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAfrican-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOccupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eDurant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eColonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         \u003ctitle type=\"simple\" render=\"doublequote\" href=\"\"\u003eThe Story of a Patriot,\u003c/title\u003e\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eCrime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eOther local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","\u003cp\u003eAlthough this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses\n         photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which\n         document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first\n         black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition,\n         these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American\n         experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.","African-American family life is documented in both formal\n         and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and\n         children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries,\n         weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also\n         represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of\n         events taking place.","The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into\n         African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s\n         and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and\n         nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing\n         and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs\n         are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va.,\n         the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point\n         and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include\n         Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since\n         Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of\n         well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features\n         a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.","Durant also acted as photographer for many African-\n         American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal\n         group portraits, he documented these groups through informal\n         shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many\n         African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as\n         well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these\n         photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses\n         occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's\n         conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance\n         groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service\n         groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to\n         fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the\n         Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the\n         Advancement of Corlored People.","African-American student life during the late 1940s and\n         early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant\n         acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at\n         local black high schools and also documented the sports teams,\n         marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton\n         Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he\n         categorized as relating to \"School Affairs\" encompasses\n         Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball\n         teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group\n         portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high\n         schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate\n         that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School,\n         James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School,\n         Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various\n         schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.","Various clubs and student organizations are featured in\n         images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the\n         parades represented are the College of William and Mary's\n         Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating\n         the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show\n         various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club,\n         the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college\n         glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.","A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's\n         African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach.\n         Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and\n         children at this beach along James River. The collection\n         includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some\n         of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin\n         Beach inscription.","African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by\n         the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as\n         choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals\n         participating in rituals, at many different black churches in\n         the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are\n         negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of\n         Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist\n         Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in\n         Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the\n         area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers\n         performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.","Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities\n         for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in\n         this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in\n         restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry\n         cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers\n         at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed\n         photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the\n         hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains\n         who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed\n         interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in\n         some of his informal portraits.","Durant compiled a photographic record of the white\n         community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he\n         fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits,\n         businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events.\n         Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around\n         Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits\n         of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and\n         the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various\n         members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall\n         and at various sites around the Historic Area.","Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs\n         are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography\n         business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow\n         scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of\n         color slides which document the filming of \n         The Story of a Patriot,\"\n         the official orientation film still in use at Colonial\n         Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed\n         portraits of both white and African-American costumed\n         interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.","Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also\n         recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided\n         photographic services to the Police Department. A series of\n         photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick\n         House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded\n         automobile accidents and police investigations.","Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include\n         the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the\n         Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport\n         News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on\n         board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and\n         the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic\n         documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch\n         plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.","Although this collection provides little documentation of\n         Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal\n         papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his\n         activities as a member of the city government. Some of these\n         papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook\n         and are retained in their original order in a folder. They\n         include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and\n         photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary\n         public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal\n         opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news\n         clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter\n         from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant\n         for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The\n         scrapbook materials also include several letters from\n         satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and\n         historical commentary."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights/ Restrictions on Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns the copyright\n            for all materials within this collection. Permission to\n            cite from or reproduce materials in publications must be\n            requested from the Visual Resources Library staff."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract label=\"Abstract\"\u003eCollections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s.\u003c/abstract\u003e\n      "],"abstract_tesim":["Collections consists of the\n         photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and\n         photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the\n         social, religious, and economic activities of African-\n         Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the\n         1930s through the 1960s."],"corpname_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)"],"persname_ssim":["Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"names_ssim":["Atomic Swingsters (Musical\n            group)","Brick House Tavern\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Bruton Heights School\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Charles City School (Charles\n            City, Va.)","Colonial\n            Williamsburg Foundation.","First Baptist Church\n            (Williamsburg, Va.)","Grant's Trio (Musical\n            group)","Hillside Cafe Beer\n            Garden.","James Weldon Johnson School\n            (Yorktown, Va.)","Mell-O-Tones (Musical\n            group)","Mt. Gilead Baptist Church\n            (James City County, Va.)","National Association for the\n            Advancement of Colored People--Yorktown, Virginia\n            Branch.","New Zion Baptist Church\n            (Lightfoot, Va.)","Newport News Shipbuilding\n            and Dry Dock Company.","United States (Ship :\n            1952)","United\n            States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.","Yorkie's Tavern (Yorktown,\n            Va.)","Albert Durant.","Basie, Count,\n            1904-","Elizabeth,\n            II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-","Durant, Albert Wadsworth,\n            1920-1991."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":187,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00100_c01_c15"}},{"id":"viwc_viwc00116_c01_c42","type":"Sub-Series","attributes":{"title":"Weald/Downland.","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00116_c01_c42#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eSlides and a pamphlet.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00116_c01_c42#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viwc_viwc00116_c01_c42","ref_ssm":["viwc_viwc00116_c01_c42"],"id":"viwc_viwc00116_c01_c42","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00116","_root_":"viwc_viwc00116","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00116_c01","parent_ssi":"viwc_viwc00116_c01","parent_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989.","Series I: Slides \u0026 Pamphlets. \n 1989."],"parent_ids_ssim":["viwc_viwc00116","viwc_viwc00116_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Weald/Downland.","title_ssm":["Weald/Downland."],"title_tesim":["Weald/Downland."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Weald/Downland."],"text":["Weald/Downland.","Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989.","Series I: Slides \u0026 Pamphlets. \n 1989.","Box-folder 3:12","Slides and a pamphlet."],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989.","Series I: Slides \u0026 Pamphlets. \n 1989."],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989.","Series I: Slides \u0026 Pamphlets. \n 1989."],"level_ssm":["Sub-Series"],"level_ssim":["Sub-series"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":43,"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"collection_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989."],"containers_ssim":["Box-folder 3:12"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns copyright for\n            all images taken by Rosemary Brandau. Consult the Visual\n            Resources staff concerning procedures for obtaining\n            permission to reproduce images from this collection."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSlides and a pamphlet.\u003c/p\u003e\n          "],"scopecontent_tesim":["Slides and a pamphlet."],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#41","timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viwc_viwc00116","ead_ssi":"viwc_viwc00116","_root_":"viwc_viwc00116","_nest_parent_":"viwc_viwc00116","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/cw/viwc00116.xml","title_ssm":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989."],"title_tesim":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989."],"normalized_title_ssm":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989."],"text":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989.","AV-94.1","Country\n            homes--England.","3 boxes.","There are no restrictions.","Rosemary Brandau's original arrangement of her research\n         files has been preserved. The slides accompanying written\n         materials are filed alphabetically by the names of the various\n         country houses.","Rosemary Brandau served as manager of Historic Area food\n         programs for Colonial Williamsburg from 1983 until her death\n         in 1993. She oversaw daily operations at the Governor's Palace\n         and Wythe House kitchens, as well as program development for\n         the historic foodways program. In addition, she served as a\n         consultant for menu development and food presentation at the\n         taverns. Her efforts to create more authentic presentations of\n         food preparation and dining in the Historic Area are\n         documented in this research collection.","The Rosemary Brandau Papers include files Rosemary Brandau\n         compiled while participating in the Attingham Summer School on\n         the British Country House from July 7-25, 1989. As manager of\n         historic food programs at Colonial Williamsburg, Brandau was\n         studying kitchens and domestic work spaces in preparation for\n         making modifications to the \"British\" kitchen at the\n         Governor's Palace. Her files consist primarily of guidebooks\n         for various country houses and slides she shot while touring\n         the homes. The collection also includes a file of clippings\n         and pamphlets concerning the recreated Tudor kitchens at\n         Hampton Court Palace. In addition, the files encompass some\n         correspondence and research notes related to her participation\n         in the Attingham Summer School.","The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns copyright for\n            all images taken by Rosemary Brandau. Consult the Visual\n            Resources staff concerning procedures for obtaining\n            permission to reproduce images from this collection.","Rosemary Brandau.","Brandau,\n            Rosemary.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989."],"collection_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989."],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["AV-94.1"],"unitid_tesim":["AV-94.1"],"repository_ssm":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"repository_ssim":["Colonial Williamsburg"],"creator_ssm":["Rosemary Brandau."],"creator_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau.","Brandau,\n            Rosemary."],"creators_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau.","Brandau,\n            Rosemary."],"access_terms_ssm":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns copyright for\n            all images taken by Rosemary Brandau. Consult the Visual\n            Resources staff concerning procedures for obtaining\n            permission to reproduce images from this collection."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Country\n            homes--England."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Country\n            homes--England."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["3 boxes."],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRosemary Brandau's original arrangement of her research\n         files has been preserved. The slides accompanying written\n         materials are filed alphabetically by the names of the various\n         country houses.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Rosemary Brandau's original arrangement of her research\n         files has been preserved. The slides accompanying written\n         materials are filed alphabetically by the names of the various\n         country houses."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRosemary Brandau served as manager of Historic Area food\n         programs for Colonial Williamsburg from 1983 until her death\n         in 1993. She oversaw daily operations at the Governor's Palace\n         and Wythe House kitchens, as well as program development for\n         the historic foodways program. In addition, she served as a\n         consultant for menu development and food presentation at the\n         taverns. Her efforts to create more authentic presentations of\n         food preparation and dining in the Historic Area are\n         documented in this research collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Rosemary Brandau served as manager of Historic Area food\n         programs for Colonial Williamsburg from 1983 until her death\n         in 1993. She oversaw daily operations at the Governor's Palace\n         and Wythe House kitchens, as well as program development for\n         the historic foodways program. In addition, she served as a\n         consultant for menu development and food presentation at the\n         taverns. Her efforts to create more authentic presentations of\n         food preparation and dining in the Historic Area are\n         documented in this research collection."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRosemary Brandau Papers, AV-94.1, John D. Rockefeller,\n            Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"prefercite_tesim":["Rosemary Brandau Papers, AV-94.1, John D. Rockefeller,\n            Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Rosemary Brandau Papers include files Rosemary Brandau\n         compiled while participating in the Attingham Summer School on\n         the British Country House from July 7-25, 1989. As manager of\n         historic food programs at Colonial Williamsburg, Brandau was\n         studying kitchens and domestic work spaces in preparation for\n         making modifications to the \"British\" kitchen at the\n         Governor's Palace. Her files consist primarily of guidebooks\n         for various country houses and slides she shot while touring\n         the homes. The collection also includes a file of clippings\n         and pamphlets concerning the recreated Tudor kitchens at\n         Hampton Court Palace. In addition, the files encompass some\n         correspondence and research notes related to her participation\n         in the Attingham Summer School.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content Information"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Rosemary Brandau Papers include files Rosemary Brandau\n         compiled while participating in the Attingham Summer School on\n         the British Country House from July 7-25, 1989. As manager of\n         historic food programs at Colonial Williamsburg, Brandau was\n         studying kitchens and domestic work spaces in preparation for\n         making modifications to the \"British\" kitchen at the\n         Governor's Palace. Her files consist primarily of guidebooks\n         for various country houses and slides she shot while touring\n         the homes. The collection also includes a file of clippings\n         and pamphlets concerning the recreated Tudor kitchens at\n         Hampton Court Palace. In addition, the files encompass some\n         correspondence and research notes related to her participation\n         in the Attingham Summer School."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns copyright for\n            all images taken by Rosemary Brandau. Consult the Visual\n            Resources staff concerning procedures for obtaining\n            permission to reproduce images from this collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n      "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights/ Restrictions on Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation owns copyright for\n            all images taken by Rosemary Brandau. Consult the Visual\n            Resources staff concerning procedures for obtaining\n            permission to reproduce images from this collection."],"persname_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau.","Brandau,\n            Rosemary."],"names_ssim":["Rosemary Brandau.","Brandau,\n            Rosemary."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":49,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:07:11.343Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viwc_viwc00116_c01_c42"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Colonial Williamsburg","value":"Colonial Williamsburg","hits":75},"links":{"remove":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/repository_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"type":"facet","id":"collection_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Collection","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","value":"Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th\n century.","hits":27},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Albert+Durant+Photography+Collection%2C+20th%0A+century.\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Delos H. Smith Collection, ca.1940-ca.1959.","value":"Delos H. Smith Collection, ca.1940-ca.1959.","hits":14},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Delos+H.+Smith+Collection%2C+ca.1940-ca.1959.\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Dr. Edward Riley Papers n.d.","value":"Dr. Edward Riley Papers n.d.","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Dr.+Edward+Riley+Papers+n.d.\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Helene and Estelle Philibert Papers, 1947-1964.","value":"Helene and Estelle Philibert Papers, 1947-1964.","hits":25},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Helene+and+Estelle+Philibert+Papers%2C+1947-1964.\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Mordecai B. Sweeney Papers, 1830-1884.","value":"Mordecai B. Sweeney Papers, 1830-1884.","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Mordecai+B.+Sweeney+Papers%2C+1830-1884.\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Mr. and Mrs. H. Donald Nelson autograph collection of the First Ladies of the United States, circa 1789-2013","value":"Mr. and Mrs. H. Donald Nelson autograph collection of the First Ladies of the United States, circa 1789-2013","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Mr.+and+Mrs.+H.+Donald+Nelson+autograph+collection+of+the+First+Ladies+of+the+United+States%2C+circa+1789-2013\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Robinson Family Papers, 1684-1915.","value":"Robinson Family Papers, 1684-1915.","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Robinson+Family+Papers%2C+1684-1915.\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989.","value":"Rosemary Brandau Papers, 1989.","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Rosemary+Brandau+Papers%2C+1989.\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Singleton P. Moorehead Papers, 1923-1972","value":"Singleton P. Moorehead Papers, 1923-1972","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Singleton+P.+Moorehead+Papers%2C+1923-1972\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/collection_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"type":"facet","id":"level_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Level","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Sub-series","value":"Sub-series","hits":75},"links":{"remove":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/level_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"all_fields","attributes":{"label":"All Fields"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=all_fields"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"keyword","attributes":{"label":"Keyword"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=keyword"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"name","attributes":{"label":"Name"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=name"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"place","attributes":{"label":"Place"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=place"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"subject","attributes":{"label":"Subject"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=subject"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"title","attributes":{"label":"Title"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=title"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"container","attributes":{"label":"Container"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=container"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"identifier","attributes":{"label":"Identifier"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026search_field=identifier"}},{"type":"sort","id":"score desc, title_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"relevance"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026sort=score+desc%2C+title_sort+asc"}},{"type":"sort","id":"date_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"date (ascending)"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026sort=date_sort+asc"}},{"type":"sort","id":"date_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"date (descending)"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026sort=date_sort+desc"}},{"type":"sort","id":"creator_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"creator (A-Z)"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026sort=creator_sort+asc"}},{"type":"sort","id":"creator_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"creator (Z-A)"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026sort=creator_sort+desc"}},{"type":"sort","id":"title_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"title (A-Z)"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026sort=title_sort+asc"}},{"type":"sort","id":"title_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"title (Z-A)"},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Colonial+Williamsburg\u0026page=8\u0026sort=title_sort+desc"}}]}