Albert Durant Photography Collection, 20th century.

Access and use

Location of collection:
Colonial Williamsburg
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
P.O. Box 1776
Williamsburg, VA 23187
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Douglas Mayo
Phone: (757) 565-8521
Phone: (757) 565-8520
Fax: (757) 565-8528

Summary

Creator:
Albert Durant.
Abstract:
Collections consists of the photographs of Albert Durant, chauffer, entrepreneur, and photographer of Williamsburg, Va. Photos chiefly depict the social, religious, and economic activities of African- Americans in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers which document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. In addition, these materials offer a visual archive of the African-American experience in Williamsburg between the 1930s and 1960s.

African-American family life is documented in both formal and informal family portraits and portraits of infants and children. Family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, are also represented in formal group portraits and candid shots of events taking place.

The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into African-American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s and 1950s. Durant captures the atmosphere of local jazz and nite clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing and audiences socializing. Many different taverns and clubs are represented, including Yorkie's Tavern in Lightfoot, Va., the Hillside Cafe Beer Garden, and various clubs in West Point and Hampton. Entertainers pictured in the images include Grant's Trio, Mell-O-Tones, and the Atomic Swingsters. Since Durant occasionally took trips to New York to meet members of well-known blues and jazz bands, the collection also features a few portraits of such musicians as Count Basie.

Durant also acted as photographer for many African- American clubs and organizations. Along with taking formal group portraits, he documented these groups through informal shots of meetings, dinners, and special events. Many African-American women's clubs dedicated to social reform, as well as women's missionary circles, are documented in these photos. The series of club portraits also encompasses occupational groups, such as hairdresser's clubs and doctor's conventions, as well as garden clubs, musical performance groups, hunting and fishing clubs, and community service groups. Several African-American organizations dedicated to fighting for civil rights are also represented, including the Yorktown Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Corlored People.

African-American student life during the late 1940s and early 1950s is also featured in this visual archive. Durant acted as a portrait photographer for Junior-Senior Proms at local black high schools and also documented the sports teams, marching bands, choirs, students, and faculty at Bruton Heights School in Williamsburg. The series of images he categorized as relating to "School Affairs" encompasses Homecoming parades and assemblies, football and basketball teams, theater productions, graduation portraits, and group portraits of classes, clubs, and faculty at various high schools. His negative identifications for this series indicate that he photographed students at Frederick Douglas School, James Weldon Johnson School in Yorktown, Charles City School, Bruton Heights School, Mathew Whaley School, and at various schools in Isle of Wight and Charles City counties.

Various clubs and student organizations are featured in images of parades in Williamsburg and Smithfield. Among the parades represented are the College of William and Mary's Homecoming parades, a Shriner parade, and a parade celebrating the 250th Anniversary of Williamsburg. These photos show various floats prepared by such groups as the Puritan Club, the Junior Women's Club, the Smithfield Players, and college glee clubs and fraternities and sororities.

A popular summer recreational area for Williamsburg's African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s was Log Cabin Beach. Durant took dozens of souvenir portraits of men, women, and children at this beach along James River. The collection includes numerous examples of these souvenir portraits, some of which are still in their original mats with the Log Cabin Beach inscription.

African-American spiritual life is also well-documented by the collection. Durant photographed church groups, such as choirs and missionary circles, as well as individuals participating in rituals, at many different black churches in the Williamsburg area. Included in this collection are negatives and photoprints of members of the congregations of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Grove, Va., New Zion Baptist Church in Lightfoot, Va., First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Va., and several other Baptist churches in the area. A series of photos also captures Baptist ministers performing full-immersion baptisms in a river.

Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities for African-Americans in Williamsburg are also documented in this collection. The photos show African-Americans working in restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry cleaners, and gas stations. Since he often picked up customers at the Williamsburg Inn and Williamsburg Lodge, Durant enjoyed photographing other chaffeurs and taxi drivers waiting at the hotels, as well as African-American porters and bell captains who were stationed at the entrances. African-American costumed interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg are also captured in some of his informal portraits.

Durant compiled a photographic record of the white community in Williamsburg in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as he fulfilled commissions for wedding pictures, school portraits, businesses, nightclubs, organizations, and special events. Since he chauffered many distinguished visitors around Williamsburg, Durant had opportunities to capture the visits of such heads of state as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and the Prince of Japan. In addition, Durant photographed various members of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s family at Bassett Hall and at various sites around the Historic Area.

Colonial Williamsburg's buildings, employees, and programs are also featured in many photos. As part of his photography business, Durant prepared Christmas photo cards with snow scenes of the Historic Area. In addition, he took a series of color slides which document the filming of "The Story of a Patriot,"" the official orientation film still in use at Colonial Williamsburg's Visitor's Center. Durant also took many posed portraits of both white and African-American costumed interpreters who worked in the Historic Area.

Crime, accidents, and disasters in Williamsburg were also recorded on film by Durant, who appers to have provided photographic services to the Police Department. A series of photos provides a graphic visual record of a fire at the Brick House Tavern in the Historic Area. Durant also recorded automobile accidents and police investigations.

Other local events commemorated in Durant's photos include the trial run of the S.S. United States, a ship built by the Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co. (now known as Newport News Shipbuilding.) This series of photos documents staff on board the ship, as well as the interiors of various rooms and the exterior of the ship. Durant also compiled photographic documentation of the groundbreaking for the Anheuser-Busch plant and of the Bicentennial at Yorktown in 1976.

Although this collection provides little documentation of Durant's personal life, it does include one box of personal papers relating to Durant's limousine business and to his activities as a member of the city government. Some of these papers were removed for preservation purposes from a scrapbook and are retained in their original order in a folder. They include certificates, correspondence, news clippings, and photos documenting Durant's activities as a magistrate, notary public, and chauffeur. Durant's concern about equal opportunities for African-Americans is reflected in news clippings about housing discrimination, as well as a letter from President Johnson's secretary personally thanking Durant for his comments on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The scrapbook materials also include several letters from satisfied customers who enjoyed Durant's driving and historical commentary.

Biographical / historical:

Albert Wadsworth Durant was born on February 2, 1920 in New York City to Samuel and Bessie Durant. His mother was a native of Williamsburg who moved with her husband to New York and worked as a domestic servant for a family. After the death of her husband, who was originally from the West Indies, Bessie Durant and her children re-located to Williamsburg, Virginia in 1929.

At age 36, Durant married Elsie Lucille Ferguson on August 18, 1956. They raised three sons, Albert W. Durant, Jr., Byron Murphy, and Roderick Ferguson and two daughters, Yvette Durant and Deanna Ferguson.

Albert Durant ran his own chauffeuring and limousine business in the Williamsburg area, providing services to many distinguished visitors to the city, including the Queen Mother of England, the Prince of Japan, and various chief justices. He often took his customers on excursions to local historic sites, including Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the James River plantations. Through course work at the College of William and Mary, Durant acquired a background in American history which enabled him to provide historical commentary as he drove customers through the countryside.

Durant's contacts at the College of William and Mary sparked his initial interest in photography and once he had obtained equipment and training, Durant began creating his own historical record of the Williamsburg area. As the first city licensed black photographer in Williamsburg, Durant produced hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities of African-American residents and also documented significant events, places, and person in and around Williamsburg.

In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve the conditions for African-Americans in Williamsburg by serving in various positions in the city's government. He acted as the first black Justice of the Peace and Bail Commissioner in Williamsburg and served as the first black magistrate of the General District Court from his appointment in 1962 until his retirement in 1975.

Albert Durant died at age 71 on April 14, 1991.

Acquisition information:
Purchase, 1991.
Arrangement:

This collection has been organized into 5 series:
Series 1. Photoprints
Series 2. Negatives
Series 3. Slides
Series 4. Oversize Prints
Series 5. Personal Papers

Physical description:
34 boxes (14 linear ft.)