Collects recently discovered portraits made by a commerical Black photographer of Columbia, South Carolina's Black middle class during the 1920's and '30's

A True Likeness: The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts 1920-1936

Johnson, Thomas L.

Roberts, Richard Samuel

Dunn, Phillip C.

Biographies & Memoirs

Writers & Readers

Richard Samuel Roberts, a black photographer, had operated a commercial studio in Columbia from 1920 until his death in 1936. When his studio was closed down shortly thereafter, his negatives were stored under the family home. Not until 1977 did a chance visit by a field archivist from the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina reveal the fact that Roberts's negatives still existed. Almost miraculously, most were still in good condition. In their scope and camera artistry they constitute an eloquent pictorial record, documenting the life and times of the black inhabitants of a southern city from just after the First World War until well into the Depression. Especially noteworthy is Roberts's depiction of the black middle-class community. Those unfamiliar with the South of the 1920s and 1930s are unaware that there was a flourishing black middle-class in the southern cities. Here, captured by Roberts's camera, is ample evidence of its existence. Some 200 of his best pictures have been chosen for publication in A True Likeness. They show men, women, and children in the studio and elsewhere, people at work and at play, their homes, automobiles, and other possessions. Roberts also traveled to other cities and into rural South Carolina, always with camera and film.

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Algonquin Books

Collects recently discovered portraits made by a commerical Black photographer of Columbia, South Carolina's Black middle class during the 1920's and '30's

A True Likeness: The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts, 1920-1936

Algonquin Books Of Chapel Hill

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Roberts, Richard Samuel. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Roberts, Richard Samuel