Rita Holtz is a library assistant in the Special Collections Department of the Alexandria Library. She and her colleague Julie Patton just published “The Historic Photos of Alexandria,” a 10-by-10 gift book showing the history of Alexandria through archive photos, some of which have never before been seen by the public.
What gave you the idea for the book?
Turner Publishing, out of Nashville, came to the library. They do books of this type for cities all over the U.S. They came in and looked at our photographs — we pulled about 500 for them. Then they approached me and Julie and asked if we would like to write the text.
How long did the process take?
We put it together in about three months — choosing the photographs, scanning, writing all the text, researching. It was a labor of love. It came out about a month ago and all the major stores have picked it up.
A chunk of the book deals with the Civil War. What role did Alexandria play in that?
It was the first city to be occupied by the Union. It was pretty much the hub of the Civil War for the Union. The major railroad for the Union came out of Alexandria. When the Union occupied our city, they basically confiscated anything they wanted, including the entire waterfront.
Do you have a favorite photo that you discovered while you were working on this?
It’s hard to pick one, but I think there is a photo in the book of the government coal wharf during the Civil War. You see two gentlemen sitting toward the front of the photo and they’re seeing the Union ships take their city’s coal away. There’s a little poignancy there — as if they’re saying, “I can’t do anything about this.” It’s just a really cool picture.
