Historic Norfolk Photographers

Charles "Charlie" Simpson Borjes

(1891 - 1959)

Charles Borjes, whose career spanned 41 years with our local newspaper The Virginian-Pilot, was one of the most prolific photographers in Norfolk's history. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on 25 November 1891 to Charles Borjes and Gertrude Russell Borjes. His father was a classical musician and a symphony director and his mother was a homemaker. Borjes attended public schools in Norfolk and loved to play baseball, basketball, and football. He attempted to become a professional baseball player, trying out for the professional baseball team in Bristol, Virginia, but was unfortunately sidelined by a broken ankle during one of Bristol's practice sessions and had to return home to Norfolk for recuperation. Later, he had to give up his dreams of playing professional sports when his foot was crushed in an elevator accident in Norfolk. After service with the Norfolk Blues Artillery regiment of the Virginia National Guard, Borjes returned to Norfolk and began to hone his skills as a photographer. His favorite subject was capturing images of the outdoors—especially the area near Seashore State Park. His work quickly caught the attention of Keville Glennan with The Virginian-Pilot, and was hired in 1913.

During the course of 41 years with The Virginian-Pilot, he gained international recognition for his photographs of events such as the crash of the dirigible "Roma" and his coverage of sports.  Borjes remained with the newspaper until he retired in 1956.  He died three years later in Portsmouth on 23 May 1959 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk.  His legacy lives on in the thousands of images of Norfolk and the surrounding region that remain for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

Photograph: Charles Borjes with the Virginian-Pilot's first staff car in early 1920s. From the Sargeant Memorial Room Photographic Collection, Norfolk Public Library.

Source:
Staff Writer. "Life's Film Ends for Charlie Borjes, Good Photographer, Good Citizen." The Virginian- Pilot. 24 May 1959. C1 & C2.
Tucker, George H. "Tidewater Landfalls: The Cemetery Flashed On." The Virginian-Pilot. 18 March 1974.
Yarsinske, Amy Waters, Norfolk, Virginia: the Sunrise City by the Sea: a Tribute to Photographer Carroll H. Walker, Sr. Virginia Beach, Virginia: Donning Company, 1994.

Harden David "Volly" Vollmer, Sr.

(1892 - 1971)

H. D. Vollmer was the "Charles Borjes" of the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch in Norfolk during the 1910s to 1950s. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, on 30 December 1892 to Charles D. Vollmer and Aurelia Lockhard Vollmer.  He spent his first seven years in Richmond before his family moved to Norfolk in 1899. Vollmer attended most of his grade school years in Norfolk and developed an interest in art during this time. He began working for the Old Dominion Tobacco Company as a bookkeeper and Virginia Electric & Power Company, VEPCO, (now Dominion Power) before joining the Norfolk Ledger Dispatch in 1917 as a sports and general reporter. During World War I, he joined the Army and was assigned to the 75th Photo Section of the Army Signal Corps from May 1918 to February 1919. During this time, he was stationed at an Eastman Kodak Plant where he learned photography in depth and honed his natural artistic talent to become a much acclaimed photographer.

Vollmer met and courted Gertrude Elise Sturm for about two years before they married in Rochester, New York. They had a son, Harden David Vollmer junior and a daughter, Clara J. Vollmer. Vollmer became a member of the Norfolk Art Corner and founded the Norfolk Photography Club. He took part in over 50 shows for the Art Corner while displaying his works at regional art and photography exhibits. Although he continued to work for the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, besides photography he also began to work with different artistic mediums such as etching, pastel painting, soapstone and  plaster carving, watercolors, linoleum block printing, and lithography. Some of his works appeared in the second printing of "Light's O'day" by Charles Day.

In his pursuit of photography, he developed a deep friendship, both professional and personal, with Charles Borjes of the Virginian-Pilot. Vollmer retired from the newspaper in 1958, but continued his work until his death at the age of 78 on 23 July 1971. He was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia.  The legacy of his art lives on.

Photograph: H D. Vollmer from about the 1950s. Courtesy of Clara J. Vollmer of Norfolk, Virginia.

Source:
Staff Writer. "H.D. (Volly) Vollmer, Sr., 78, Photographer, Reporter." The Virginian - Pilot. 24 July 1971. B4.
Interview with Clara Vollmer on May 30, 2006 by W. Troy Valos and Robert Hitchings. Norfolk Public Library - Norfolk, Virginia.
Yarsinske, Amy Waters, Norfolk, Virginia: the Sunrise City by the Sea: a Tribute to Photographer Carroll H. Walker, Sr. Virginia Beach, Virginia: Donning Company, 1994.

Harry Cowles Mann

(1866 - 1926)

Harry Cowles Mann was born on 8 June 1866 in Petersburg, Virginia, to Honorable Judge Edwin and Pattie B. Mann. Judge Mann sat on Petersburg's Hustings Court while his wife raised their many children at home including Harry. We do not know much about Harry's life outside of his professional career as a photographer or what led him to choose photography as a career. The first mention of Harry Mann working as a photographer was the 1907 Jamestown Exposition here in Norfolk where his brother James secured him a position with the Jamestown Exposition Photographic Corporation. Their sole purpose was to take all the official photographs for the event and make copies to sell to the public. It seems Harry Mann learned the photography profession in the darkrooms and from the fellow photographers with the Jamestown Photographic Corporation.

His skills progressed and his passion increased when he begun taking countless photographs of the Atlantic Ocean and the natural beauty around the Cape Henry area. He loved taking photographs of unspoiled sand dunes and seascapes of Virginia Beach. His photographs won awards and recognition in London, New York, and Paris. The National Geographic even published his photographs in their 1915 through 1918 issues. He settled in Norfolk with his brother James in 1909 and became the most respected commercial photographer in Norfolk from 1909 to 1924 after his health begun to rapidly decline and had to give up his photography. He died in Lynchburg, Virginia, on 12 December 1926 and was buried in the family's plot in Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia. His work was largely forgotten until Norfolk photographers like Carroll Walker 50 years later brought his photographs back into the attention of the public.

Photograph: Portrait of Harry Mann as a young man about turn of the century. From Carroll Walker Collection of Sargeant Memorial Room, Norfolk Public Library.

Source:
Staff writer. "Virginians at Play: a Gallery of Photographs by Harry C. Mann." Virginia Cavalcade. 38. No. 4. (1989) 172 - 179.
Staff Writer. "Art and the Camera." The Virginian - Pilot and Norfolk Landmark. 24 March 1912.
1870 US Federal Census. Petersburg Ward 6. Petersburg, Virginia. Page 366.
Walker, Carroll H. "A Look Back at Harry C. Mann, Photographer." The Downtowner. 2. No. 10. (Mar-Apr 1990)

Written by W. Troy Valos, June 2006.

James Arthur Murdaugh

(1892 - 1962)

Portsmouth native James Arthur Murdaugh (4 April 1892 – 10 December 1962) photographed hundreds of scenes of downtown Norfolk during an important turning point in the city’s history. His images, taken between 1959 and 1961, provide a permanent record of street scenes and buildings that were torn down during Phase III of Norfolk Redevelopment & Housing Authority’s modernization of 147 acres downtown.

Photograph: Courtesy of Esther Wilson Memorial Local History Room, Portsmouth Public Library

James Earle "Jim" Mays

(1924 - 1990)

James Earle "Jim" Mays was born 19 September 1924 in Parsons, Tennessee, and grew up in Decatur County, Tennessee. He joined the Navy in 1942 during World War II and received training in photography while serving his first duty at Norfolk Naval Air Station. In addition, he was instrumental in setting up the Atlantic Fleet School of Color Photography. Mays taught at the school for two years before being assigned to the carrier USS Midway. Upon leaving the Navy, he joined the Virginian-Pilot as a photographer in 1947 and married Katherine Wood of Norfolk the same year. They had three children.

Mays was an avid fisherman and outdoorsman who loved surf fishing at the Outer Banks whenever possible. His position as outdoor photographer for the Pilot allowed him to combine his love of the outdoors with his work. In 1962, Mays was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his columns on illegal duck trapping on the Eastern Shore. Later in his career, Mays rose through the ranks within the Pilot as chief photographer, reporter, columnist, and public relations director. In 1967, he left the Pilot for the WTAR television and radio group in Norfolk as Director of News and Public Affairs. Mays rejoined Landmark Communications, the parent company of the Virginian-Pilot, as Director of Communications in 1981 when Landmark Corporation sold WTAR. He retired in 1985 to Virginia Beach where he dedicated his time to tending his vineyard and nursery. He died on 14 May 1990 and is buried at Colonial Memorial Park, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Photograph: Portrait of Jim Mays taken on 03 March 1955. Sargeant Memorial Collection’s Photographic Collection, Norfolk Public Library.

Source:
Family Interview with Rob Mays and his widow, Katherine Mays.
Unknown. "James E Mays, Was News Photographer and News Executive." The Virginian-Pilot. 16 May 1990. D2
Staff Writer. "Mays to Become Landmark Director of Communications." The Virginian-Pilot. 31 February 1981.
Hutchinson, Bob. "Ex-outdoor editor was just a-Mays-ing." The Virginian-Pilot. 6 February 1985.

John Cloyd Emmerson, Jr.

(1891 - 1980)

John Cloyd Emmerson was born on 6 July 1891, in Portsmouth, Virginia, to parents John Cloyd and Claudia Mildred Emmerson. His family can be traced back to prominent families of Virginia such as the Cockes of Bremo and the Barron family, who distinguished themselves in the formation period of the U.S. Navy. Emmerson was educated in public schools in Portsmouth and assumed his first job working at his father's insurance agency and union ticket office. Like so many young men at the outbreak of World War I, he joined the U.S. Army and was sent to France with the 1st Depot Division. Emmerson came home to Camp Dix in 1919, and was honorably discharged as a Corporal. He returned to Portsmouth and rejoined his father's business as a partner. Emmerson later joined The Independent and The Daily Advocate in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, from 1928 to 1933. He then went to work for A. G. Pinkston and Company of Portsmouth as an office manager from 1940 until 1958 when he retired.

Emmerson never married, however stayed busy researching his own family genealogy and writing about local history. He compiled and published “The Steamboat Come to Norfolk Harbor” in 1949, “Stream Navigation in Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina” in 1950, and “The Chesapeake Affair of 1807” in 1954. His passion for local history and his generosity greatly enhanced the local history collections at both the Norfolk and Portsmouth Public Libraries. He died on 3 Feb 1980, in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is buried with his family in Oak Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth, Virginia.

Photograph: Courtesy of Esther Wilson Memorial Local History Room, Portsmouth Public Library.

Source:
Emmerson, John C., Jr. The Emmersons and Portsmouth. (Portsmouth, Virginia: Self Published, 1966.)
U.S. Government. World War I Draft Registration Card, John Cloyd Emmerson, Junior. Portsmouth, Virginia.
"Obituary of John C. Emmerson." Virginian-Pilot. 4 Feb 1989.