Health and Medicine – The UncommonWealth

Archives

Newly-Available Archival Accessions, April 1-June 30, 2025

The Library of Virginia maintains the most comprehensive collection of information about Virginia’s history, culture, and government. We hold more than 200 million manuscript items,…

Trenton HizerOctober 8, 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

Doctor, Poisoner, Governor, Rebel: John Pott, America’s “Founding Physician”

From the earliest days of America’s founding, we as a nation have sought heroes to help tell our story. Whether iconic leaders like Washington and…

Guest ContributorNovember 1, 2023

Archives Newspapers

Dr. Ware’s War on Kissing

December 26, 1902 was, by all appearances, a slow news day for the Staunton Spectator and Vindicator. The Virginia newspaper featured such prosaic headlines as…

Rebecca SchneiderFebruary 6, 2023

Archives Newspapers Virginia Authors

The Golden Age of Virginia Midwifery?

Globally and locally, whether pregnant women have the right to choose who attends them during pregnancy and birth is a lively and often contentious topic.…

D'Anne GrahamJune 8, 2022

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

Chronic Pains: Virginia’s History of Painkiller Legislation

A public argument breaks out between several men on the topic of opiates. One, a physician, calls for greater restrictions on prescriptions to curb their…

Library of VirginiaSeptember 24, 2021

Archives

Virginia Vaccination Vacillation

To vaccinate, or not to vaccinate? That has always been the question. It is particularly timely these days as people seek, or seek to avoid,…

Tracy HarterJune 16, 2021

Archives

“Endeavor to Restore Them” : Accessing the Records of Virginia’s State Hospitals

When we began our careers at the Library of Virginia, in 1995 and 1999 respectively, there existed a stigma around certain types of records, especially…

Library of VirginiaApril 28, 2021

Education & Programming The Stacks

Finding the Unexpected

As a Library of Virginia volunteer, researching the Dictionary of Virginia Biography (DVB) has taken me into the lives of worthy but heretofore relatively unremarked,…

Leila ChristenburyMarch 10, 2021

Archives

Drooping, Slapping, and Clapping: Exercises from the Past

This is an entry in our “Random Reference” series, which features interesting discoveries made and reference questions answered by our Archives & Library Reference Services…

Lisa WehrmannJanuary 4, 2021

Archives

“Manifest Danger” : Smallpox Epidemics Hit 19th-Century Chesterfield

Given the current coronavirus health crisis, processing a small collection of Chesterfield County smallpox epidemic records from the 19th century seemed to be a timely…

Tracy HarterApril 22, 2020

Archives Digital Projects

Library Makes New Batch of Emails from Governor Timothy M. Kaine Administration Available Online

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce the release of 100,343 emails from the administration of Governor Timothy M. Kaine (2006-2010). This latest batch…

Roger ChristmanJanuary 30, 2019

Manuscripts & Special Collections

"View from the Hospital": The Blanton World War I Scrapbook

This is the latest entry in a series of blog posts spotlighting stories and records of Virginia’s involvement in World War I. Many collections in the Library…

Vince BrooksMarch 28, 2018

Education & Programming

Open Data for Public Good

Occasionally, we ask guest writers to share information or stories about researching in our collections, public library programming or activities, and other topics which Library…

Guest ContributorSeptember 20, 2017

Archives

"Fit to Fight": The Second Virginia Council of Defense

This is the latest entry in a series of blog posts spotlighting stories and records of Virginia’s involvement in World War I. The Council’s activities…

Vince BrooksJuly 12, 2017