Historic Images Capture Black Middle Class in 1930s Columbia

For nearly 50 years, a dusty crawlspace beneath the family home of the late African American photographer Richard Samuel Roberts was the resting place of more than 5,000 glass plate negatives depicting the everyday life of the Black middle class in the Jim Crow South.

The University of South Carolina Libraries not only retrieved the thousands of photos but preserved them in the first freely accessible images of African American life in Columbia during the early 20th century. Many of the portrait subjects have direct descendants still living in the area, so the photos connect them to their ancestry.

A portraitist at heart, Roberts’ skillfully captured the heart and dignity of Black communities, including images of doctors, shopkeepers, undertakers, teachers, lawyers, mechanics and other professionals operating from the city’s segregated Black business district. Images of several prominent Columbians are in the collection, including Dr. Matilda Evans, Modjeska Monteith Simkins, and I.S. Leevy.

For many, the most stunning images are the solemn portraits of families and individuals, the period clothing they wore, their noble bearing and the deeply expressive eyes that reflect a time in history unique to them.

Abigail Cole, Development Communications and social media manager with USC Libraries, can take viewers through the Richard Samuel Roberts Photograph Collection and answer questions relevant to coverage focusing on this period in African American history. She is available for booking on local talk shows in the Columbia area.