Tazewell County – The UncommonWealth

Newspapers

Reading Obituaries as Historical Texts

On February 19, 1887, the Afro-American Churchman published an obituary for Reverend Samuel V. Berry. From this entry, we learn how Rev. Berry received his…

Kim BowmanSeptember 5, 2018

Newspapers

“By What Right?” Two Baptist Newspapers from Tazewell

Recently, the Library of Virginia acquired two Baptist newspapers, the Primitive Baptist and the Tazewell Baptist, both from Tazewell, Virginia. The two papers share more…

Kelley EwingJuly 23, 2018

Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Art of the Annual: The Virginia Yearbook Digitization Project

In 2015, I started the Library’s yearbook digitization project to scan yearbooks from all around Virginia on behalf of public libraries. Thanks to funds from…

Rose SchooffApril 18, 2018

Sterilization at the Virginia State Penitentiary

The genesis of this post came from reading Paul Lombardo’s 2009 book, Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court and Buck v. Bell. My…

Roger ChristmanMarch 4, 2015

Archivist Road Show

During the months of October and November, Local Records archivists delivered presentations on chancery suits to the Tazewell County Public Library, the Scott County Rotary…

Greg CrawfordDecember 16, 2011

Is There A Doctor in the (Court) House?: A Doctor’s Account Book as Public Record

Robert Davidson (R.D.) Hufford was born in Wythe County in 1850. He studied medicine at the Medical College of Virginia and established a practice in…

Greg CrawfordOctober 12, 2011