# @vadogwoodnews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CyUQCaJO82t
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/9238826-vadogwoodnews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/c0f21f8a93.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-10-12T23:00:09.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Dogwood (@vadogwoodnews) — https://gondola.cc/vadogwoodnews

## Caption

With a nickname like "88 Keys," you know, Wilfred Wilson, Jr. could genuinely play the piano. The Charlottesville man rose to fame in the 1950s when he tickled the ivories playing jazz tunes, but that wasn't where his love for music began.

According to his obituary, Wilson's mother, a music teacher, started teaching him to play instruments at age seven. He started performing professionally for soldiers during World War II and continued to play upon his return to Charlottesville. Working for 37 years in the University of Virginia (UVA) Hospital's radiology department, Wilson often wowed his singing and musical abilities to his coworkers and patients.

Wilson often performed locally, like the featured photograph shows. In the picture, he and his bandmates play at the UVA Hospital staff's Christmas party in 1953. The caption with the photo notes that the event was a "racially integrated" staff party despite having segregated patient wards.

In a Tribune article from January 1954, a quote about the party read: "Not only was the party a strictly integrated affair, but the entire program was devised by integrated committees of hospital employees. It was 100% democratic and was attended by hospital personnel from every department, representing job categories from hospital director, personnel director, and director of nurses down to the lowest janitor and maid—and everyone present seemed to have enjoyed the experience immensely."

Wilson also played out of town, taking trips to the nation's capital. Some famous names he performed alongside included the Temptations, Sarah Vaughn, and Count Basie.

The musician played throughout his life, even accepting an invitation to perform for the Class of 1959's 50-year reunion. Wilson died in 2015 at the age of 89.

📸 : University of Virginia Library/RL White

#vahistory #charlottesvilleva #musicians

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musicians, charlottesvilleva, vahistory

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