Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16742, Culpeper County Virginia hunting album containing photographs of African American families, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased from L & T Respess Books by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on December 16, 2019.

Biographical / Historical

The photograph album includes photographs of African Americans and whites standing together. There are also photographs of African American families in front of their homes. The album captures this social history of Culpeper as well as snapshots of local buildings and hunting activities.

Culpeper had access to convenient rail links, land with plentiful game, and comfortable accomodations. The first train station in Culpeper was built in the 1850's, and was replaced in 1874. After a fire destroyed the building in 1903, a new depot was built and still stands today as the current Amtrak station. Located directly across the train station, is the Waverley House hotel which was built in the 1850's. It was a three-story Greek Revival building with Tuscan Brackets and was a popular lodging place on the railway line through the 1920's. It was torn down in 1971.

Content Description

This collection contains a photograph album depicting a wide range of hunting experiences in the environs of rural Culpepper County, Virginia at the turn of the century. The album contains ninety uncaptioned, mounted photos of hunting scenes including bagged game such as quail, foxes, turkeys, and deer, usually depicted with hunters and hunting dogs. There are photographs of hunters in groups from one to a half dozen, posed in the woods, with shotguns, or posed with guns and dogs. Several pictures include local African American families and guides. The photographs also feature typical southern rural life style and architecture, a variety of landscapes, the Culpeper railroad depot, and Culpeper's Waverley House hotel.

The album represents one of the best southern vernacular hunting albums in this genre. It provides a window into a little studied aspect of early twentieth century social life in Culpeper, Virginia.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• African American families
• Hunting
• Virginia -- Social life and customs