Henrico County through the Eyes of an Intern
There is something quite magical about black and white photographs. The History Center’s new exhibit Into Focus: Henrico County Through the Camera celebrates Henrico County’s 400th anniversary with a really fantastic set of images belonging to both the museum and the county.
I spent a while looking at the photographs, fascinated by a history about which I knew little, and at the same time remembering a small but very distinct memory from my own childhood, through one photo in particular. I recall crowded check-out lines with screaming kids, friendly smiling faces young and old, and people waiting patiently for cashiers who are always dressed in blue shirts and ask “paper or plastic.” The photograph is of, you guessed it, the check-out line at Ukrop’s!
History is not always powdered wigs and courtroom dramas. History also is memories, large and small, recent or distant. It’s everyday life 
in our community, and that’s what this exhibit is about.
So, what will you remember through the black and white lens? Visit Into Focus at the History Center now through March 2012 in the Stern Gallery, which is included with the regular $8 admission ($7 seniors and students).
— Nicole Morton, Randolph-Macon College
