Random Reference (Blog Series) – The UncommonWealth

Side view, M2A2 Light Tank, Danville, VA, circa 1937

Archives

An M2A2 of the 29th Tank Company: An Interwar Period Multi-Turreted Tank of the Virginia National Guard

I am not only a reference archivist, but also a U.S. Army veteran. I served as an M1A1 Abrams and M551 Sheridan armor crewman in…

Kenneth ForestDecember 2, 2024

Newspapers

Random Reference: Esperanto in Progressive Era Virginia

In February 1909, an unusual death notice appeared in a monthly magazine. Thirty-six-year-old Elizabeth Neely Warrington of Norfolk, Virginia, had died a few months earlier,…

Rebecca SchneiderAugust 19, 2024

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

“Every Other Interest was ‘Eclipsed'”: Norfolk’s Day in the Sun

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit family living in the path of totality for the solar eclipse on April 8. The day…

Nathan VerillaJune 3, 2024

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 Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

Uncovering the Source: Waddy Family Genealogical Notes, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1914

Among my work projects, I correct Optical Character Recognition (OCR) newspaper text for the Virginia Chronicle website. One of the features of the Sunday editions…

Nathan VerillaApril 3, 2023

Archives

Build a Better Mousetrap, They Say: A Patent Drawing Sparks Curiosity

Many times, in the course of our work processing local government records, we run across something interesting that sends us down the proverbial rabbit hole.…

Vince BrooksMarch 6, 2023

The Stacks

You Requested It…How?

A staff member recently asked me when VTLS, the Library’s first Integrated Library System with an online catalog for the public, was installed. While searching…

Ginny DunnJanuary 16, 2023

Newspapers

Random Reference: TurkeyFest – It’s a Festival for the Turkey!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I am sure some people are thinking about gathering together with family and friends around a big table where…

Amanda MorrellNovember 7, 2022

Archives

Random Reference: Fraktur Fractions

While many archival items contain interesting content, the item itself may look rather boring. That is certainly not the case with an arithmetic book from…

Ginny DunnJuly 4, 2022

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Peter Francisco: The Man, the Myth, the Prenup?

Peter Francisco was a revered Revolutionary War soldier with mysterious origins. It is believed that his American story began in 1765, after being discovered abandoned…

Dawn TinnellJune 6, 2022

Newspapers

Random Reference: “Advice to the Lovelorn”

We are living in an age of peak advice, a crowded media landscape in which bloggers, columnists, podcasters, and online strangers field inquiries about everything…

Rebecca SchneiderMarch 7, 2022

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

Romance Of A Different Nature

Gothic Romance is a genre of fiction that reached its height during the Romantic Period, late 18th and early 19th century, in England. These novels…

August MoulisFebruary 7, 2022

Archives

Random Reference: Riot in the Church!

Manakin Town, in present-day Powhatan County, was a unique community made up of Huguenot (French Protestant) refugees who settled there in 1700-1701. Although free from…

Bill BynumSeptember 15, 2021

Digital Projects The Stacks

More Than a Fresh Coat of Paint: Improving the Online Experience with LibGuides

The Library of Virginia has long maintained an excellent series of introductory guides to the Library’s resources and subject areas. At first, these were mostly…

Library of VirginiaJuly 12, 2021

Archives The Stacks

Random Reference: What Happened to Uncle Harry?

The best thing about being a reference archivist is that every time you pick up the phone you have no idea what the question will…

Dawn TinnellJune 7, 2021