Image of the Week
As part of the Black History Month Blog, VCU Libraries would like to spotlight rare images of African American life in Virginia. Our third image this month is from LIFE Magazine [a complete bound set is housed in Special Collections and Archives]. The image shows Oliver W. Hill, (1907-) during the swearing-in ceremony of Richmond's newly elected City Council, September 7, 1948. Hill is seen standing on the podium in front of what is now Old City Hall. The 1948 election followed the change from a bi-cameral governing system to a city manager system. Oliver W. Hill, Jr., then a Richmond lawyer and member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, was the first African American to be elected to Richmond's City Council in 52 years. Watch (or read) the oral history of Oliver W. Hill, Sr., part of the library's Voices of Freedom site where you can access video oral histories of twelve leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Virginia.
Can you identify the person wearing eye glasses sitting in front of Oliver W. Hill, Jr. in this 1948 image? This individual has his arms folded and is wearing a light colored suit. He was present because he had been elected to the Richmond Charter Commission which had come up with the plan for the new system of government. Submit a comment to this post if you think you know the answer.
--Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.