<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><ead xmlns="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9 https://www.loc.gov/ead/ead.xsd"><eadheader countryencoding="iso3166-1" dateencoding="iso8601" findaidstatus="completed" langencoding="iso639-2b" repositoryencoding="iso15511"><eadid countrycode="US" mainagencycode="US-ViU" url="https://archives.lib.virginia.edu/ark:/59853/239514">MSS16929</eadid><filedesc><titlestmt><titleproper type="filing">McGinness, Melvin, tailor shop ledger</titleproper><titleproper>Melvin McGinness tailor shop ledger <num>MSS 16929</num></titleproper><author>Ellen Welch</author></titlestmt><publicationstmt><publisher>Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library</publisher><p id="logostmt"><extref xlink:actuate="onLoad" xlink:href="http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/logos/uva-sc.jpg" xlink:show="embed" xlink:type="simple"/></p><p><date>2025-12-15</date></p><address><addressline>Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library</addressline><addressline>P.O. Box 400110</addressline><addressline>University of Virginia</addressline><addressline>Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110</addressline><addressline>URL: <extptr xlink:href="https://small.library.virginia.edu/" xlink:show="new" xlink:title="https://small.library.virginia.edu/" xlink:type="simple"/></addressline></address><p>This record is made available under an Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license.</p></publicationstmt><notestmt><note><p>Has Orange slip from KA: Preservation for cleaning. Put on truck in stacks office. EW. 12/16/25</p></note></notestmt></filedesc><profiledesc><creation>This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on <date>2026-03-05 17:47:16 +0000</date>.</creation><langusage>Description is written in: <language langcode="eng" scriptcode="Latn">English, Latin script</language>.</langusage><descrules>Describing Archives: A Content Standard</descrules></profiledesc></eadheader><archdesc level="collection">
  <did>
    <repository>
      <corpname>Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library</corpname>
    </repository>
    <unittitle>Melvin McGinness tailor shop ledger</unittitle>
    <origination label="Creator">
      <persname>McGinness, Melvin, 1896-1970</persname>
    </origination>
    <unitid>MSS 16929</unitid>
    <unitid type="ark">
      <extref xlink:actuate="onLoad" xlink:href="https://archives.lib.virginia.edu/ark:/59853/239514" xlink:show="new">Archival Resource Key</extref>
    </unitid>
    <unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/3/resources/1841</unitid>
    <physdesc altrender="whole">
      <extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">0.25 Cubic Feet</extent>
      <extent altrender="carrier">One legal-sized box, half-width</extent>
    </physdesc>
    <unitdate certainty="approximate" datechar="creation" normal="1939/1969" type="inclusive">c. 1939-1969</unitdate>
    <langmaterial>
      <language langcode="eng" scriptcode="Latn">English</language>
    </langmaterial>
    <container altrender="Document Box (Legal, half-width) = 0.25 cf" id="aspace_f7e5eaecca361d8bff211914ca10e868" label="Mixed Materials [X032762813]" type="box">1</container>
  </did>
  <accessrestrict id="aspace_6c36e547fc559797857f1c3d5434b9a2">
    <head>Conditions Governing Access</head>
<p>This collection is open for research.</p>  </accessrestrict>
  <acqinfo id="aspace_ff822b3b482dba4edb3f6c9128516307">
    <head>Immediate Source of Acquisition</head>
<p>This collection was a purchase from Franklin Gilliam Rare Books to the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 5 November 2025.</p>  </acqinfo>
  <scopecontent id="aspace_cdaa2911744b3a74e3d497f80cffb413">
    <head>Content Description</head>
<p>This collection contains one ledger book kept by Melvin McGinness (1896-1970) for his tailor shop on 273 West Main Street in Vinegar Hill, Charlottesville, Virginia. Dates in the ledger indicate that the book was kept between 1964 and 1968, evidenced by two dated "Look-Rite Cleaners" receipts and a handwritten date by McGinness at the top margin of page 27. Earlier material is tipped in at the front and back endpages. This ledger records work completed by McGinness at this second tailor shop location,151 Brown Street in the Starr Hill neighborhood, as evidenced by receipts throughout the book dated after the razing of Vinegar Hill. </p><p>Entries in the ledger include the account holder's name, their clothing size, the work they have commissioned, and the price of the work. Checkmarks indicate the closing of a transaction after the customer has paid. Laid in material throughout the ledger includes a Singer Sewing Machine Exchange advertisement, an advertisement pamphlet for incense oils, and a 1966 receipt for automobile work at Knauf's Auto Service Co. On West Main Street, a November 1939 program for the cornerstone laying ceremony of Trinity P.E. Church, handwritten notes from June 1969 about sending delegates to an unspecified state meeting, a ruler advertising Atlanta Thread &amp; Supply Co., a Look-Rite Cleaners receipt from June 1969, a May 1964 Trinity Church program, a Virginia National Bank envelope, a Medicare Insurance Card informational sheet, an August 1968 Trinity Church program portion, several blank sealed envelopes, a Remington Shaver box, and a sheet cardstock with written ledger entries.  </p>  </scopecontent>
  <bioghist id="aspace_5e278e0d7cb67badbde0c8996b53b2e2">
    <head>Biographical / Historical</head>
<p>McGinness graduated from Hampton College in 1914 and served in the First World War before marrying his wife, Charlottesville school teacher and principal Rebecca McGuinness in 1923. He relocated to Charlottesville and began to operate McGinness Tailor Shop at 273 West Main Street. This location was eventually demolished in early 1964 during the Urban Renewal razing of the Vinegar Hill neighborhood of Charlottesville. McGinness moved his tailor shop to 151 Brown Street in the Starr Hill neighborhood.</p>  </bioghist>
  <prefercite id="aspace_e1bc0f16f5be68feda9d0fa8ed5dbd32">
    <head>Preferred Citation</head>
<p>MSS 16929, Melvin McGinness tailor shop ledger, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.</p>  </prefercite>
  <relatedmaterial id="aspace_06b8538cd42ed23d6d153129345e8651">
    <head>Related Materials</head>
<p>Rebecca Fuller McGinness papers MSS 12633</p>  </relatedmaterial>
  <controlaccess>
    <subject authfilenumber="https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2007100334" source="lcsh">African Americans -- Virginia</subject>
    <subject authfilenumber="sh 85001807" source="lcsh">African American business enterprises</subject>
    <genreform authfilenumber="300027496" source="aat">Ledgers (account books)</genreform>
    <geogname source="lcsh">Charlottesville (Va.) -- History -- 20th century</geogname>
  </controlaccess>
  <dsc/>
</archdesc>
</ead>