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On July 4, 1925, Ed Roseberry was born.
Vintage Charlottesville
The Roseberry Archives
Roseberry At 100
Edwin S. Roseberry was born July 4, 1925. It was 99 years to the day after Thomas Jefferson’s death at Monticello, near Charlottesville. Ed Roseberry would live a long life -97 years- pursuing his passion of photography for most of it.
I met Ed in his later years. He had returned to Charlottesville after spending several “retirement” years in Hawaii, a place he first experienced during his service in the Navy during WWII. Ed and I lived in the same neighborhood and I used to see him driving his Cadillac. I would later learn that was just one of the many Cadillacs he owned over the years. He also kept one of his oldest models, a 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood he purchased used a couple of years after he graduated from UVA in 1949.
When I discovered Mr. Roseberry had done some aerial photography over Charlottesville (something I was pursuing at the time) I was intrigued and arranged to meet with him. He shared a trove of fascinating photographs viewing Charlottesville and the University of Virginia from above. We compared images and discovered there were many parallels in the locations, views, and angles we both shot- decades apart- and that lead to discussion of presenting some “Then & Now” pairings of our aerial photographs.
From there, Ed began sharing more from his archive including photographs of student life at UVA, scenes from around town, photos of architecture, businesses, and portraits. His legendary images of events in and around the University, including photos of the notoriously active party scene there, earned him the nickname, “Flash” since there was usually a flash mounted on his Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex camera. He would own and use a wide collection of cameras throughout his career and amass well over 150,000 prints and negatives. Over the years many of his images were published in magazines and newspapers and his work slowly became part of the history of Mid- 20th Century Charlottesville. Using photographs from his archives Ed and I began hosting some exhibits and talks together to share more of his work with the enthusiastic Charlottesville public and UVA alumni. At some point he revealed he wanted to publish a book of his work and I offered to make this a reality for him. In 2016 we published “FLASH: The Photography of Ed Roseberry.”
The book was well-received and two more books were completed, both containing a generous selection of Roseberry photographs alongside other Charlottesville photographers. Those next two books were “Charlottesville Then & Now”, and “Vintage Charlottesville.” Book signings and interviews were a regular occurrence for Ed, at the time he was well into his 90s. He used to joke that he left Charlottesville for Hawaii as an ordinary photographer and returned to discover he was part of Charlottesville history and
local lore.
In honor of his 100 birthday, Vintage Charlottesville (C’ville Images) will share more of Ed’s work in the coming months, including images that haven’t been published -or maybe even shown- anywhere before. To start, we are launching “The Roseberry Archives” with some of his work from the 1940s-1970s and we will continue to add to this online collection. The first two books in our series are sold out (and won’t likely be reprinted soon) but the third book, “Vintage Charlottesville” which includes an extensive
selection of Ed’s photos is available at our online store, as well as a couple of locally-owned shops, Blue Whale Books (downtown), and The Virginia Shop (at Barracks Road Shopping Center). Check back to this website occasionally for new additions and updates as we keep Ed Roseberry’s legacy alive for new and old fans alike.
Steve Trumbull
4 July 2025
{snip)
This aerial photograph from 1963 shows the Medical School and Hospital at UVA as it looked in those days. The lower part of the view shows the rooftops of several of the buildings on The Corner, the commercial area along University Avenue.
{snip}
All photographs by Edwin S. Roseberry. Images not to be used without permission.
© C’ville Images, 2018-2025
The Roseberry Archives
Roseberry At 100
Edwin S. Roseberry was born July 4, 1925. It was 99 years to the day after Thomas Jefferson’s death at Monticello, near Charlottesville. Ed Roseberry would live a long life -97 years- pursuing his passion of photography for most of it.
I met Ed in his later years. He had returned to Charlottesville after spending several “retirement” years in Hawaii, a place he first experienced during his service in the Navy during WWII. Ed and I lived in the same neighborhood and I used to see him driving his Cadillac. I would later learn that was just one of the many Cadillacs he owned over the years. He also kept one of his oldest models, a 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood he purchased used a couple of years after he graduated from UVA in 1949.
When I discovered Mr. Roseberry had done some aerial photography over Charlottesville (something I was pursuing at the time) I was intrigued and arranged to meet with him. He shared a trove of fascinating photographs viewing Charlottesville and the University of Virginia from above. We compared images and discovered there were many parallels in the locations, views, and angles we both shot- decades apart- and that lead to discussion of presenting some “Then & Now” pairings of our aerial photographs.
From there, Ed began sharing more from his archive including photographs of student life at UVA, scenes from around town, photos of architecture, businesses, and portraits. His legendary images of events in and around the University, including photos of the notoriously active party scene there, earned him the nickname, “Flash” since there was usually a flash mounted on his Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex camera. He would own and use a wide collection of cameras throughout his career and amass well over 150,000 prints and negatives. Over the years many of his images were published in magazines and newspapers and his work slowly became part of the history of Mid- 20th Century Charlottesville. Using photographs from his archives Ed and I began hosting some exhibits and talks together to share more of his work with the enthusiastic Charlottesville public and UVA alumni. At some point he revealed he wanted to publish a book of his work and I offered to make this a reality for him. In 2016 we published “FLASH: The Photography of Ed Roseberry.”
The book was well-received and two more books were completed, both containing a generous selection of Roseberry photographs alongside other Charlottesville photographers. Those next two books were “Charlottesville Then & Now”, and “Vintage Charlottesville.” Book signings and interviews were a regular occurrence for Ed, at the time he was well into his 90s. He used to joke that he left Charlottesville for Hawaii as an ordinary photographer and returned to discover he was part of Charlottesville history and
local lore.
In honor of his 100 birthday, Vintage Charlottesville (C’ville Images) will share more of Ed’s work in the coming months, including images that haven’t been published -or maybe even shown- anywhere before. To start, we are launching “The Roseberry Archives” with some of his work from the 1940s-1970s and we will continue to add to this online collection. The first two books in our series are sold out (and won’t likely be reprinted soon) but the third book, “Vintage Charlottesville” which includes an extensive
selection of Ed’s photos is available at our online store, as well as a couple of locally-owned shops, Blue Whale Books (downtown), and The Virginia Shop (at Barracks Road Shopping Center). Check back to this website occasionally for new additions and updates as we keep Ed Roseberry’s legacy alive for new and old fans alike.
Steve Trumbull
4 July 2025
{snip)
This aerial photograph from 1963 shows the Medical School and Hospital at UVA as it looked in those days. The lower part of the view shows the rooftops of several of the buildings on The Corner, the commercial area along University Avenue.
{snip}
All photographs by Edwin S. Roseberry. Images not to be used without permission.
© C’ville Images, 2018-2025
I used to live in one of the buildings in the background of that aerial photograph of UVa Hospital and the Corner. It was torn down nearly forty years ago for the expansion of UVa Hospital.