Lynchburg negro dance, August 18th 1853.

Two African American couples in Lynchburg dance to the music provided by musicians at right playing fiddle, banjo, and bones. The women wear elaborate dresses, jewelry, and floral headpieces. This watercolor drawing is from Lewis Miller's Sketchbook of Landscapes in the State of Virginia, a compendium of scenes he made from life while traveling through the countryside. Miller was a native of Pennsylvania and worked there as a carpenter, but he often visited Virginia and eventually settled in Christiansburg.