A. C. Oxford
Alexander Christopher Oxford (1835 - 1925) was the first photographer to open a studio in Birmingham, active between 1872 and 1885. He created the earliest photographic views of the city and also served on the Birmingham Board of Aldermen and as Mayor pro tem beginning in 1875.
Oxford was born in Carrollton in Pickens County but moved to a relative's farm in Mississippi when he was orphaned as a child. As a teenager he apprenticed at a photography studio in Tuscaloosa and, during the Civil War served in Wheeler's Cavalry, earning promotion to the rank of Major and ending the war in "detached service", gathering intelligence. His skills as a photographer were evidently put into the service of the Confederacy as, in 1864, he managed to capture a photograph of a group of Union soldiers scaling Lookout Mountain.
After the war Oxford returned to West Alabama, marrying the former Aletheia Ann Whitlow of Marengo County in 1868. The couple moved to Selma and Oxford entered a partnership with photographer Oliver Hubbard.
In 1872 the couple made the decision to move to the developing industrial town of Birmingham. Oxford paid $200 cash for a lot on the southwest corner of 2nd Avenue North and 21st Street where he erected a studio. Their first years in Birmingham were difficult as the town's development floundered during a national depression and the population was decimated by cholera. Knowing that the rest of the south was faring even worse, the Oxford's stayed put. They were founding members of First Methodist Church and Mr Oxford was active in the Masons and in the United Confederate Veterans. In addition to their downtown studio, they opened a gallery at the tourist resort of Blount Springs. Mrs Oxford worked as a seamstress and sold handwork to tourists at the Springs, and also gave piano lessons.
The Oxford's first daughter, Eliza Curtis, died in infancy on July 5, 1873 at the beginning of the epidemic in Birmingham. Her father staged a singular postmortem portrait of the girl bedecked with shears, knives and a doorknob to symbolize the closing of life and opening of the afterlife. In 1875 he won election to the office of Alderman, securing a $40 per month stipend and serving the city's efforts to improve the sanitation of the water supply, a major factor in the spread of cholera.
In 1876 Oxford had the opportunity to exhibit a selection of his views of the Birmingham District at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Surviving photos of the period preceding the exhibition depict the original Jefferson County Courthouse, the Relay House, various mines and general views of the city.
By 1881 Birmingham's fortunes were turning around and Oxford's business began thriving. He was selling his stereoviews of Birmingham in cities across the midwest and south and retailing views of exotic locales from his studio. His second daughter, Mary Josephine, was born, but Aletheia's health failed and she left him a widower.
In 1885 Oxford retired from business. He sold his shop to Christian Enslen and invested his savings in real estate. He remarried and devoted himself to his family and to his fraternal activities. An avid participant in Confederate veteran's events he was known for his series of horses, all named "Dixie" and dogs, all named "Rebel".
In 1916 Oxford prepared scrapbooks with examples of his photographic work. In introducing these books, which he left to his grandchildren, he explained that he no longer remembered all of the places or people shown, but that the work itself meant something and was worth holding onto. Nevertheless, he did dispose of the remainder of his prints and plates.
Oxford died in 1925 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery.
References
- Robb, Frances. (August 2, 2006) "Success and Sorrow: A. C. Oxford, Birmingham's First Resident Photographer." Lecture delivered at the Birmingham Public Library.