15th Amendment and African American Suffrage

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

Political Life in Virginia

Editor’s Note: This blog post contains information from a previous Library of Virginia exhibition, "A full vote, a fair ballot, and a free count": Political Life…

Library of VirginiaNovember 3, 2025

Archives

Are You Smarter than a Literacy Test?

In 1920, Cora Cottman joined scores of other American women applying to vote for the very first time following the ratification of the 19th Amendment.…

McKenzie LongSeptember 23, 2024

Education & Programming

We Demand Complete Realization: The Slow Legal Fight for Enfranchisement

CONTENT WARNING: Materials in the Library of Virginia's collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and…

Jessi BennettSeptember 11, 2020

Archives Education & Programming

“On Account of Race”: Disenfranchisement of Black Voters in Virginia

The history of African American disenfranchisement and exclusion in Virginia is a lengthy one. This blog post is meant to serve as an introduction and…

Jessi BennettSeptember 9, 2020

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“Let Our Vote Be Cast:” African American Women and the Suffrage Movement in Virginia

We explain the purpose and functioning of the ballot and teach that voting is a duty as well as a right. We use every opportunity…

Mari JulienneMarch 11, 2020

Archives

The Remarkable Hodges Family of Princess Anne County and Norfolk

During the night of 23 April 1829, six African American men made a daring escape from the Norfolk County jail. One of them was William…

Brent TarterMarch 6, 2019

Archives

More Than an Entry in a Register: Local Government Convict Registers

For access purposes, archivists sort local government records held by the Library of Virginia into twenty-three categories, as well as numerous sub-categories encompassing the alphabet…

Callie FreedMay 24, 2018

Archives

Election Time: Poll Books of the 1867 Election

On 22 October 1867, African American men cast votes for the first time in Virginia; this significant event was recorded in poll books in counties…

Paige NealOctober 23, 2017

Archives Education & Programming

Remaking Virginia: “To Secure Justice for Ourselves”

This is the fourth in a series of four blog posts concerning post-Civil War Virginia and the lives of freedpeople after Emancipation. The posts precede the…

Mari JulienneJuly 1, 2015

Archives

"Tell the court that I love my wife…"

Commonwealth vs. Richard Perry Loving and Mildred Delores Jeter was the criminal case that began in 1958 in Caroline County and terminated in a landmark civil…

Sarah NerneyFebruary 8, 2012

Archives

Don’t Block the Vote

In honor of the upcoming Election Day, today’s post presents a record that illustrates the struggles that some Virginians experienced while attempting to exercise the…

Sarah NerneyNovember 2, 2011