Maps and Cartography – Page 2 – The UncommonWealth

The Art of Mapping War

New ideas are sometimes birthed out of tragedies. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill passed by both houses of Congress authorizing an ambitious…

Joanne PorterNovember 18, 2015

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

Sneak Peek: April 18 Voorhees Lecture

The 2015 Alan M. and Nathalie Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography will be held at the Library of Virginia on Saturday, 18 April. …

Cassandra FarrellApril 8, 2015

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Name that town

The Library of Virginia began accessioning maps in 1911. Today its collection has grown to encompass several types of maps, including town plans. One of…

Cassandra FarrellFebruary 20, 2015

Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Island Formerly Known as 314

This summer’s announcement that Mayo’s Island is again for sale prompted a look back at the history of of the most well-known of the James River islands.…

Cassandra FarrellNovember 14, 2014

Education & Programming

The 2014 Alan M. and Nathalie Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography

The 2014 Alan M. and Nathalie Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography will be held at the Library of Virginia on Saturday, 12 April.…

Cassandra FarrellApril 4, 2014

“My Dearest Miss Lura:” Lunenburg Letters Illuminate a Long and Unlikely Love Affair

Lura Royall was a Lunenburg County girl. Her relatives remember her as a pretty woman who never married—a retired school teacher full of life well…

Dale DulaneyFebruary 13, 2013

Digital Projects

Following a Northern Star: Exploring Abolitionist Materials with Mapping Technologies

Here in Virginia, there are some pretty strong views on history. It isn’t merely in the past, it is occurring in the present as well. …

Sonya ColemanJanuary 22, 2013

Digital Projects

Mapping John Brown: How one man’s failed rebellion expanded the abolitionist cause

In some cases, failing extravagantly can work in favor of your cause. Go big or go home, as it were. John Brown was an American abolitionist who…

Sonya ColemanJanuary 15, 2013

Digital Projects

LVA Partners with American Experience to Populate the Abolitionist Map of America: Interactive Map Explores the Legacy of the Anti-Slavery Movement

How did views on slavery evolve in the decades leading up to the Civil War? What different concerns did Quakers, soldiers, and revolutionaries express about…

Sonya ColemanJanuary 8, 2013

Archives Digital Projects

Petersburg Chancery Digital Project Now Complete

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce the completion of the Petersburg chancery causes digital project. The scanning project was funded by the Circuit Court…

Sherri BagleyMay 16, 2012

The Siege of Veracruz in Amelia Co.?

Occasionally the strangest things will surface in the county records. While processing Amelia County records (Barcode 1147160), archivist Callie Freed found a map depicting the…

Sarah NerneyNovember 30, 2011

Digital Projects

CSI: OLD VIRGINIA: SCENES OF MURDER AND MAYHEM IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT RECORDS COLLECTION

Editors Note: This post originally appeared in the former ”Virginiana” section of Virginia Memory. The beautiful maps in the Voorhees collection and those that reside in Special Collections are…

Ryan SmithJune 15, 2011