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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Frank Dementi Photograph Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Dementi, Frank A. (1905-1986)
Williamsburg (Va.) - Buildings, structures, etc.
Williamsburg (Va.) - Photographs
Visitors, Foreign
Military personnel - American - Virginia - Williamsburg
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of photographs taken mostly before 1946 of Williamsburg buildings, events, and people by Richmond, Virginia photographer Frank Dementi and donated to Colonial Williamsburg in 1965. The nephew of Anthony L. Dementi, who founded the Dementi Studio in 1924, Frank Dementi graduated from the Winona School of Photography in Indiana. After working for several years with his brother, Tony Dementi, Frank started a position as a photo journalist with the Richmond News Leader where he worked alongside colleague Park Rouse who recalled "He liked action photography which involved movement, excitement, or even danger ."
Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Dementi opened Colonial Studio in the Business Block at the West end of Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg, Virginia on June 9, 1942. He focused primarily upon photographing soldiers and sailors stationed with military bases in the area but also took on a number of important assignments for Colonial Williamsburg and even took pictures of German prisoners of war. Two of his most exciting opportunities came when members of the Churchill family visited Williamsburg during and shortly after World War II.
In 1945, Dementi relocated his Colonial Studio, offering illustrative and portrait photography, to 9 East Grace Street in Richmond, Virginia, where he operated the business until his retirement in 1984. His early experimentation with color photography led him to win an award in 1955 for a composition set in Colonial Williamsburg that he titled "The Sabbath." Colonial Williamsburg's Director of Promotions, Thomas McCaskey, assisted him with arrangements for the photo shoot and praised the resulting scene of costumed interpreters positioned along Palace Street for "...completely captur[ing] the charm and informality of historic Williamsburg." Throughout his career, he continued to document dignitaries, leaders, and celebrities who visited Virginia, shot numerous scenic views to support state tourism efforts, and continued to take many studio portraits. An engaging storyteller who put his subjects at ease, Frank participated in significant historical events and met many interesting personalities as he built his business.
Over the course of his career, Dementi completed numerous photo shoots at Colonial Williamsburg, ranging from special events and exhibition building openings to the visits of Clementine and Sarah Churchill in September 1943 and Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 8, 1946. Mary Churchill, a subaltern in the British Army, took a break from her duties serving as her father’s aide-de-camp during the U.S. visit to accompany her mother on an impromptu trip to Williamsburg organized by the British Embassy. The two started their morning at the Williamsburg Inn, where they met Vernon Geddy, First Vice-President of Colonial Williamsburg, who served as their escort, and local photographer Frank Dementi, who operated Colonial Studio in Williamsburg from 1942-1945. Lord Moran, Winston Churchill’s private physician, and two aides from the White House also accompanied the party. During a guided tour of selected exhibition buildings, including the Governor’s Palace, where costumed interpreter Midge Adolph greeted the women, Clementine and Mary learned about the former British capital. A luncheon at the Travis House Restaurant allowed the group to sample some of the famous scalloped oysters and other fare that won rave reviews from many military and diplomatic guests. Mary Churchill remarked to Vernon Geddy that her post-war plans needed to include a two week stay in Williamsburg. During their “flying visit” to Williamsburg, as Mary Churchill described it, the two learned of Italy’s surrender to the Allies while touring the Raleigh Tavern. It proved to be a momentous day for wartime Williamsburg and one memorialized by Frank Dementi in a series of photo albums he later sent for presentation to the Churchill family.
During his 1946 tour of the United States with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sir Winston Churchill made plans to visit Colonial Williamsburg, now twelve years old after the opening of its Historic Area. Mr. Churchill and General Eisenhower arrived by a special train on Friday, March 8, 1946. Their party enjoyed a tour of the Historic Area, followed by a visit to the Wren Building at the College of William and Mary. During their carriage ride, the horses were frightened and the tour continued by car. General Eisenhower recalled how “Sir Winston didn’t pay any attention [to the frightened horses], he just lit his cigar.”
After the tour, Mr. Churchill and General Eisenhower were invited to tea at Raleigh Tavern by Mr. Kenneth Chorley, President of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, where Frank Dementi had the singular honor of being the only photographer allowed in to capture images of the event. The party proceeded to dinner at the Williamsburg Inn. Sir Winston Churchill graced Colonial Williamsburg with an eloquent speech at dinner, concluding with a generous wish: “Long may Colonial Williamsburg flourish! Firm may be the links which it may forge with our past, and may those links of distant by-gone days be reinforced by new links and new bonds which will reach across the ocean and join our two peoples together.”
Frank Dementi's Williamsburg photos constitute the subject matter of this collection while over 70,000 photos relating to the broader history of Richmond and the state of Virginia reside with the Valentine Museum. Members of the Dementi family hold the remainder of his photographic legacy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Dementi, Frank A.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930s-1940s
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Frank Dementi Photograph Collection
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
jpeg
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
250 photographs
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. LIbrary, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials.
Original Format
If the image is of an object, state the type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Gelatin silver print
Physical Dimensions
The actual physical size of the original image.
8 x 10 inches
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Aerial View of Walter J. Zable Stadium
Description
An account of the resource
Aerial View of the Walter J. Zable Stadium at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Dementi, Frank
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Frank Dementi Photograph Collection
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
jpeg
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
1965-D-1528
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Subject
The topic of the resource
Sports & recreational facilities - Virginia - Williamsburg
College of William & Mary
Stadiums - Virginia - Williamsburg
Aerial photographs
Aerial Views
College of William & Mary
Football
Frank Dementi
Stadiums
Virginia
Williamsburg
-
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59d1884510e87b394f4854a01636eb4d
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Frank Dementi Photograph Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Dementi, Frank A. (1905-1986)
Williamsburg (Va.) - Buildings, structures, etc.
Williamsburg (Va.) - Photographs
Visitors, Foreign
Military personnel - American - Virginia - Williamsburg
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of photographs taken mostly before 1946 of Williamsburg buildings, events, and people by Richmond, Virginia photographer Frank Dementi and donated to Colonial Williamsburg in 1965. The nephew of Anthony L. Dementi, who founded the Dementi Studio in 1924, Frank Dementi graduated from the Winona School of Photography in Indiana. After working for several years with his brother, Tony Dementi, Frank started a position as a photo journalist with the Richmond News Leader where he worked alongside colleague Park Rouse who recalled "He liked action photography which involved movement, excitement, or even danger ."
Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Dementi opened Colonial Studio in the Business Block at the West end of Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg, Virginia on June 9, 1942. He focused primarily upon photographing soldiers and sailors stationed with military bases in the area but also took on a number of important assignments for Colonial Williamsburg and even took pictures of German prisoners of war. Two of his most exciting opportunities came when members of the Churchill family visited Williamsburg during and shortly after World War II.
In 1945, Dementi relocated his Colonial Studio, offering illustrative and portrait photography, to 9 East Grace Street in Richmond, Virginia, where he operated the business until his retirement in 1984. His early experimentation with color photography led him to win an award in 1955 for a composition set in Colonial Williamsburg that he titled "The Sabbath." Colonial Williamsburg's Director of Promotions, Thomas McCaskey, assisted him with arrangements for the photo shoot and praised the resulting scene of costumed interpreters positioned along Palace Street for "...completely captur[ing] the charm and informality of historic Williamsburg." Throughout his career, he continued to document dignitaries, leaders, and celebrities who visited Virginia, shot numerous scenic views to support state tourism efforts, and continued to take many studio portraits. An engaging storyteller who put his subjects at ease, Frank participated in significant historical events and met many interesting personalities as he built his business.
Over the course of his career, Dementi completed numerous photo shoots at Colonial Williamsburg, ranging from special events and exhibition building openings to the visits of Clementine and Sarah Churchill in September 1943 and Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 8, 1946. Mary Churchill, a subaltern in the British Army, took a break from her duties serving as her father’s aide-de-camp during the U.S. visit to accompany her mother on an impromptu trip to Williamsburg organized by the British Embassy. The two started their morning at the Williamsburg Inn, where they met Vernon Geddy, First Vice-President of Colonial Williamsburg, who served as their escort, and local photographer Frank Dementi, who operated Colonial Studio in Williamsburg from 1942-1945. Lord Moran, Winston Churchill’s private physician, and two aides from the White House also accompanied the party. During a guided tour of selected exhibition buildings, including the Governor’s Palace, where costumed interpreter Midge Adolph greeted the women, Clementine and Mary learned about the former British capital. A luncheon at the Travis House Restaurant allowed the group to sample some of the famous scalloped oysters and other fare that won rave reviews from many military and diplomatic guests. Mary Churchill remarked to Vernon Geddy that her post-war plans needed to include a two week stay in Williamsburg. During their “flying visit” to Williamsburg, as Mary Churchill described it, the two learned of Italy’s surrender to the Allies while touring the Raleigh Tavern. It proved to be a momentous day for wartime Williamsburg and one memorialized by Frank Dementi in a series of photo albums he later sent for presentation to the Churchill family.
During his 1946 tour of the United States with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sir Winston Churchill made plans to visit Colonial Williamsburg, now twelve years old after the opening of its Historic Area. Mr. Churchill and General Eisenhower arrived by a special train on Friday, March 8, 1946. Their party enjoyed a tour of the Historic Area, followed by a visit to the Wren Building at the College of William and Mary. During their carriage ride, the horses were frightened and the tour continued by car. General Eisenhower recalled how “Sir Winston didn’t pay any attention [to the frightened horses], he just lit his cigar.”
After the tour, Mr. Churchill and General Eisenhower were invited to tea at Raleigh Tavern by Mr. Kenneth Chorley, President of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, where Frank Dementi had the singular honor of being the only photographer allowed in to capture images of the event. The party proceeded to dinner at the Williamsburg Inn. Sir Winston Churchill graced Colonial Williamsburg with an eloquent speech at dinner, concluding with a generous wish: “Long may Colonial Williamsburg flourish! Firm may be the links which it may forge with our past, and may those links of distant by-gone days be reinforced by new links and new bonds which will reach across the ocean and join our two peoples together.”
Frank Dementi's Williamsburg photos constitute the subject matter of this collection while over 70,000 photos relating to the broader history of Richmond and the state of Virginia reside with the Valentine Museum. Members of the Dementi family hold the remainder of his photographic legacy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Dementi, Frank A.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930s-1940s
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Frank Dementi Photograph Collection
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
jpeg
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
250 photographs
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. LIbrary, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials.
Original Format
If the image is of an object, state the type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Gelatin silver print
Physical Dimensions
The actual physical size of the original image.
8 x 10 inches
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Aerial View of Walter J. Zable Stadium
Description
An account of the resource
Aerial view of the Walter J. Zable Stadium at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Dementi, Frank
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Frank Dementi Photograph Collection
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
jpeg
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
1965-D-1530
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Subject
The topic of the resource
Sports & recreational facilities - Virginia - Williamsburg
College of William & Mary
Stadiums - Virginia - Williamsburg
Aerial photographs
Aerial Views
College of William & Mary
Football
Frank Dementi
Stadiums
Virginia
Williamsburg
-
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7ab2778e7a8da32b91749764c35ee8e5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Highlights of the Albert Durant Photography Collection
Description
An account of the resource
The Albert Durant Photography Collection encompasses photoprints, negatives, slides, and personal papers that document the photographic production of Williamsburg's first black city-licensed photographer, Albert Durant. Durant's photographic output provides a priceless visual history of African American life in Williamsburg, Virginia and surrounding communities from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. Since the collection encompasses ten thousand images, highlights of some of the major subject categories covered by the photos are presented here.
The collection provides a fascinating glimpse into African American social life in Williamsburg during the 1940s and 1950s. Durant captured the atmosphere of local jazz and night clubs through scenes of performers singing and dancing and audiences socializing. 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.
African American student life during segregation is also featured in this visual archive. While a high school student at James City County Training School, Durant began developing his interest in photography by taking images of student activities, including sports, dances, plays, assemblies, and graduations. As an adult, 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.
African American spiritual life is another strength of 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.
Occupations, working conditions, and business opportunities for African Americans in Williamsburg are recorded in Durant's photos, too. The photos show African Americans working in restaurants, beauty and barber shops, stores, offices, dry cleaners, and gas stations.
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 relocated 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. He produced hundreds of portraits documenting the families and activities of African American residents and also documented significant events, places, and persons in and around Williamsburg.
In addition, Albert Durant worked to improve 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.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials.
Original Format
If the image is of an object, state the type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Gelatin silver print
Physical Dimensions
The actual physical size of the original image.
8x10 inches
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Football Players with Homecoming Court
Subject
The topic of the resource
African American Photographers
African Americans - Virginia - Williamsburg - Photographs
Bruton Heights School (Williamsburg, VA.) - Sports
African American children - Virginia - Williamsburg (James City County, etc.) - Photographs
Description
An account of the resource
Bruton Heights School Homecoming football game, Williamsburg, Virginia, circa 1950's, Left to right: Calvin Taylor, Joyce Neal, William Lewis, & Barbara Jordan.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Durant, Albert W.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Circa 1950's
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
Circa 1950's
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Albert W Durant Photography Collection, AV-1992.1, Box 8, Folder 7
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
jpeg
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DUR-5324
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
African American Men
African American Women
African Americans
Albert Wadsworth Durant
Barbara Jordan
Bruton Heights School
Calvin Taylor
Children
Football
Homecoming
Joyce Neal
Sports
Students
Virginia
William Lewis
Williamsburg