Digital Projects – The UncommonWealth

“Radford is Boomingest Town in Virginia”

In 1940, the U.S. government contracted the Hercules Powder Company to build a massive manufacturing plant in the New River Valley, just outside Radford, Virginia.…

Lauren CaravatiDecember 3, 2025

Digital Projects

School Spirits

October is full of spooky spirits, good-natured yelling and creepy costumes - but it’s not all Halloween-related. There is also school spirit haunting the stands…

Jessi BennettOctober 20, 2025

Archives Conservation Digital Projects The Stacks

Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Chancery Records Index Turns 25!

Those words in the November/December 2000 issue of the Library of Virginia newsletter launched what would eventually evolve into one of the agency’s most-used digital…

Vince BrooksOctober 15, 2025

Archives Digital Projects Education & Programming

Grappling With Your Digital Records: How To Preserve Them

When you have digital records, it’s important to carefully consider where and how to store them. Celebrate Electronic Records Day by using this article as…

Emily JohnsonOctober 10, 2025

Digital Projects Newspapers

6,000,000 Pages and Counting: New Titles on Virginia Chronicle

October 5-11 is National Newspaper Week, the perfect time to highlight new titles available on Virginia Chronicle, the Library of Virginia’s freely accessible, fully searchable…

Kelley EwingOctober 6, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

Do You Want to Join the Gallon Club?

It was well understood during World War II that blood transfusions saved lives. However, prior to the 1930s, one of the only ways to provide…

Lauren CaravatiSeptember 22, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

A Virginia Untold Update

In today’s blog post, I want to share some new material available in Virginia Untold, the Library’s digital project featuring records of enslaved and free…

Lydia NeurothAugust 27, 2025

Digital Projects Education & Programming

Fugitive Data Portraits: Self-Emancipation in Virginia

Richard Slaughter was born on January 9, 1849, on Eppes Island in City Point, Virginia. He and his family were enslaved by Richard Eppes until…

Tev'n PowersAugust 20, 2025

Digital Projects

The Denim Decade

In early 1971 students in Nansemond County petitioned the school board to change the dress code, specifically that "the female students be allowed to wear…

Jessi BennettJune 4, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

“It’s Gonna Be A Gosh Darn Good Affair”: The Lackey USO Club

During World War II, various USOs were established across Virginia. The United Service Organizations is a nonprofit organization that provides military service members and their…

Lauren CaravatiMay 7, 2025

Digital Projects Education & Programming

Making History: Celebrating Student Transcribers for National Volunteer Week

Volunteering can deepen community connections and transform lives. In our Making History crowdsourcing program, Library of Virginia staff work with volunteers to transcribe historical documents…

Sonya ColemanApril 23, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

Documenting the Pandemic

Editors Note: Yesterday, March 23rd, marked the five-year anniversary of then-Governor Northam's closure of in-person education due to Covid-19. We've chosen to take this time…

Roger ChristmanMarch 24, 2025

Digital Projects The Stacks

Chatting With AI About History

Throughout the ten plus years of our crowdsourcing project, Making History: Transcribe, we have had many conversations with our volunteers about emerging technologies and whether…

Jessi BennettMarch 19, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

“Getting no intelligence of them”: Stories of Fugitives from Slavery

In the summer of 1826, Nelly and her two daughters Harriet and Juno took advantage of a rare opportunity. While their enslavers, Notley Williams and…

Lydia NeurothFebruary 26, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

Denied Benefits, Forgotten Heroes: The Hidden Cost of WWII Blue Discharges

In previous blog posts and during events discussing the Virginia WWII Separation Notices collection, I've provided some background on the history of this collection and…

Lauren CaravatiFebruary 19, 2025