Archives – Page 12 – The UncommonWealth

Records Room Road Trips: Charlotte, Campbell, Pittsylvania, and Henry Counties

As we mentioned in the last installment for the “Records Room Road Trips” series, the spring and summer have brought more overnight stays as we’ve…

Eddie WoodwardAugust 23, 2023

Archives Digital Projects Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers Public Libraries The Stacks

Transforming the Future of Libraries & Archives 2023

2023 marked the 200th anniversary of the Library of Virginia as well as the second year of the Transforming the Future of Libraries & Archives…

Ashley CraigAugust 16, 2023

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

In Search of Family: The Story of Luversa Jones

Genealogical research always starts with a name. And questions. The Library of Virginia’s comprehensive genealogical resources – online data bases, microfiche, archival documents, and more…

Lee Ann TimreckAugust 2, 2023

Archives Conservation The Stacks

Records Room Road Trips: Spotsylvania, Mathews, Greene, Lancaster, and Middlesex Counties

Our CCRP travel picked up during the month of April for CCRP consulting archivists, which for me meant visits to five localities: Spotsylvania County, Mathews…

Tracy HarterJuly 19, 2023

Horse Thief!

According to a mysterious document in the Library’s holdings, an interstate crime ring consisting mostly of Virginians operated from Maryland to South Carolina in the…

Bill BynumJuly 3, 2023

Archives Conservation Digital Projects

Virginia Untold: Looking Back and Moving Forward

Editor's Note: Neither Virginia Untold nor Virginia Untold Project Manager Lydia Neuroth is going anywhere, but as we transition out of our two-year NHPRC grant…

Lydia NeurothJune 28, 2023

Archives Conservation

Records Room Road Trips: Day Trippers

Travel for Library of Virginia Circuit Court Records Program (CCRP) consulting archivists begins to taper off when the grants are announced, which this past year…

Eddie WoodwardJune 21, 2023

“Operating for Gold”: Gold Mining in Nineteenth-Century Virginia

The California Gold Rush of 1849 is a universal topic of study in courses surveying U.S. history, but what is commonly known about gold mining…

Caroline CollinsJune 14, 2023

How Not to Be a Confederate Soldier: Civil War Writs of Habeas Corpus from Richmond City and Petersburg

Why didn’t men fight in the Civil War? It’s not the most popular question that gets brought up during discussions of America’s bloodiest war, but…

McKenzie LongJune 7, 2023

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Revolutionary Provenance: Washington’s Letter and Cornwallis’ Cup at the Library of Virginia

Every record and artifact at the Library of Virginia not only tells a story, but also has a story. The latter is referred to as…

Kenneth ForestJune 5, 2023

Archives Conservation

Records Room Road Trips: Westmoreland, Richmond and Louisa

As one of two Circuit Court Records Program (CCRP) consulting archivists, CCRP travel for the upcoming grant cycle season began for me in February 2023.…

Tracy HarterMay 31, 2023

Archives Conservation

There and Back Again: The Return of Liber A to Prince William County

The story of Prince William County’s first deed book begins nearly three centuries ago. On May 14, 1731, during the fourth year of the reign…

Greg CrawfordMay 26, 2023

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Evidence of the Armenian Genocide at the Library of Virginia

Between the spring of 1915 and the fall of 1916, between 664,000 and 1.2 million Armenians within the Ottoman Empire died.1 The Armenian Genocide and…

Cara GriggsMay 24, 2023

Archives Conservation

Records Room Road Trips

In February 2023, we began our seventh season of travel as the first Library of Virginia Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP) consulting archivists. Although…

Library of VirginiaMay 10, 2023

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Kids Are Alright: Volunteer Transcription Projects Flourish at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School

Since 2017, the Library of Virginia has partnered with Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School (MLWGS) to offer the Making History crowdsourced transcription project to students…

Sonya ColemanMay 3, 2023