Edith Shelton's Richmond Revisited

Nearly five years ago, the Valentine mounted an exhibition of images from the more than 3,000 35mm color slides taken by local amateur photographer Edith Keesee Shelton. The photographs, primarily of downtown Richmond neighborhoods such as Jackson Ward, Carver, Monroe Ward and Shockoe Bottom, fascinated viewers with their vibrant color and captured a city entering a period of dramatic physical change. The images, most taken during the mid-1950s, resonated with the Valentine’s visitors, many of whom asked to see more.

We now offer an additional group of photographs spotlighting the unique eye of Edith Shelton.  

According to her niece, Mrs. Edgar J. Fisher, Jr., Miss Shelton "...loved Richmond—alleys, cobblestones, manhole covers.  She loved everything...she was always having adventures, in her mind anyway..."

An energetic walker, Shelton spent hours photographing Richmond, documenting a city whose landscape and customs echoed the past, even while it began to experience the physical and social changes that marked the post-World War II era.

The Edith K. Shelton Slide Collection offers a glimpse into Richmond's older neighborhoods, many that have disappeared with the advent of road construction and redevelopment projects.  

As well as being visually appealing, Miss Shelton's images also serve as a resource to those interested in the history of Richmond’s neighborhoods, businesses, and buildings—many of which no longer exist.

Want to see more? Digitized through funding from Universal Leaf Foundation, the Edith K. Shelton Photograph Collection is available through the Valentine's online database at thevalentine.org.