Archives – The UncommonWealth

Old School Tech

Many school librarians now-a-days take care of more than just books. Some have even been given the title “Media Specialist” (rather than the more traditional…

Jessi BennettSeptember 2, 2026

Archives Digital Projects Manuscripts & Special Collections

Six Bills of Sale, Seven Enslaved People

When I first listened to a voicemail from Boyd Greever back in March of this year, I assumed he just wanted to chat about his…

Lydia NeurothAugust 26, 2026

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

More Than a Policy: Enslaved Life Insurance and Virginia’s Industrial Economy

Many of us know what a life insurance policy looks like. Even if we have never owned one, we understand its basic purpose: a person…

Michelle Evans OliverAugust 24, 2026

Perseverance Pays Off: How One 19th century Individual Restored His Rights

In recent years, readers may have become familiar with the term “conservatorship.” Most prominently, this topic has been connected to one of the most popular…

Callie FreedAugust 12, 2026

Archives Digital Projects Education & Programming The Stacks

Introducing the Ideas in Action Project

But first things first, I’m Eric Johnson, the coordinator of the Ideas in Action: Virginians Petition Their Government, 1776-1786 project, a three-year initiative at the…

Eric JohnsonAugust 5, 2026

Archives Newspapers

“Whoever said that told a damned lie!”: The Witcher-Clement Feud

Whether attributable to St. Augustine, Chaucer, or Aesop the trope that familiarity breeds contempt has plenty of historical precedent – the Hatfields and McCoys, Alexander…

Vince BrooksJuly 29, 2026

Archives Digital Projects

Ann Brooks: Piecing Together a Life Hidden by History

Editor's Note: Brianna Oxford is a rising senior at Hampton University studying Criminal Justice. She is interning with Virginia Untold this summer through the Library’s…

Brianna OxfordJuly 22, 2026

Archives Education & Programming Newspapers

“Call us men and brethren, and all the tears shed in the past will be forgotten”

Riddle me this. What is the connection between an African American sheriff and postmaster in Essex County, Virginia, a Freedmen's Bureau teacher in Tappahannock, and…

Lee Ann TimreckJuly 15, 2026

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

A Smoking Gun: Library of Virginia Documents Shed Light on A Murder

It was a bloody, excruciating ending for the amiable 22-year-old merchant. Walter Henry Pleasants was shot January 30, 1838, in his room at Richmond’s Columbian…

Guest ContributorJuly 8, 2026

Archives The Stacks

Birth of a Record Group: The Inauguration of Patrick Henry

Needless to say, there was a lot going on in Virginia during the summer of 1776. The fifth and, ultimately, final Virginia Revolutionary Convention met…

Vince BrooksJuly 6, 2026

Between August 1774 and July 1776, Virginia held five Revolutionary Conventions. These conventions selected and instructed the Virginia delegates to Congress, organized military preparation, arranged…

Brent TarterJuly 1, 2026

Archives Digital Projects The Stacks

Virginia Untold Hires Part-Time Project Archivist

Hi! I'm Elle Kim, a new part-time Project Archivist for Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative. In this blog post, I’ll formally introduce myself and…

Elle KimJune 24, 2026

A sketch drawing of a ship with sails raised, and flags on the front and back and each most of the ship. A label reads “Potomack River” in cursive underneath the ship.

Archives Digital Projects

Finding People Who Don’t Want to be Found: Students and the Chesapeake’s Unfree People

In 1673, a Black woman named Pendall escaped with her son from the Accomack County plantation of Tabitha Browne, where they were enslaved. They stole…

Guest ContributorJune 17, 2026

Archives Digital Projects

Permission to Explore: World War II Sight-Seeing

In the midst of World War II, some American men and women were lucky enough to experience fleeting moments of peace and safety where they…

Jessi BennettJune 15, 2026

George Mason and the Virginia Declaration of Rights

The Virginia Declaration of Rights that members of the Fifth and last of the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions unanimously adopted on June 12, 1776, was one…

Brent TarterJune 10, 2026