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Start Over Creator Robinson, Leonard H., 1898-1990 Subjects African American families Level Collection

Leonard H. Robinson memories photo album .03 Cubic Feet 1 letter folder

Robinson, Leonard H., 1898-1990

This collection contains one photo album documenting the late adolescence and early adult years of Leonard H. Robinson from 1913 to 1919. Robinson, a Black man, was born and raised in Ohio. Robinson was light-skinned, which allowed him to be a part of the black and white communities of Marietta, Ohio, where he was raised, and his life in Akron, Ohio, where he lived for a short time. The album documents himself and his life, including pictures of his family and friends of both races, him as a player on a segregated football team, and shows his interest in pharmacies. Through the album, it is clear that the two worlds were kept separate, and his ability to pass as white leads to his changing racial self-identification-- in census records and other documents would self-identify as Black, "Mulatto", and White. Robinson attended Ohio Northern's Pharmacy program in 1920 and graduated in 1921.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

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