Travel and Vacation – The UncommonWealth

Permission to Explore: World War II Sight-Seeing

In the midst of World War II, some American men and women were lucky enough to experience fleeting moments of peace and safety where they…

Jessi BennettJune 15, 2026

Newspapers

From Richmond to São Paulo: International Art Collaboration on the Eve of World War II

On January 17, 1939, American businessman Donald McKenzie Blair arrived in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil, on board the Normandie. His arrival…

Guest ContributorJune 2, 2025

Public Libraries

Go Traveling at Your Library

Public libraries offer many services to their communities. One of the more unique services available to some patrons via their library is U.S. passport application…

Guest ContributorJanuary 8, 2024

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Bessie Miller’s Sad Summer Composition

The Library of Virginia recently acquired a family photograph collection identified as belonging to the Brooks/Ellis families. A composition book labeled “Bessie Miller December 1902”…

Vince BrooksJuly 4, 2018

Education & Programming

New Displays for June

If you have visited the Library of Virginia in recent months, you may have noticed several new exhibit cases on the building’s second floor. These…

Mary Dean CarterJune 8, 2018

"To Pass Without Delay or Hindrance": Passports in the Unclaimed Property Collection

A passport is both a highly practical and importantly symbolic item. It provides not only identification but also identity, allowing the bearer to travel to…

Claire RadcliffeMarch 7, 2018

Miami Beach Florida is Calling You

In November 1924, Governor E. Lee Trinkle traveled to Florida to attend the annual Governors’ Conference. The Governors’ Conference was held in Jacksonville, Florida, on…

Renee SavitsJuly 20, 2016

Manuscripts & Special Collections

"At the Belmont Manor, oh yes"

We are now into the month of March, and winter continues to drag on. For those of you suffering from seasonal affective disorder, the Library…

Jim GreveMarch 6, 2013

Newspapers

The Fighting Editor and his Stanley Steamers

Most of us know John Mitchell, Jr. as the tireless “fighting” editor of the Richmond Planet, a newspaper he ran for 40 plus years beginning in the mid-1880′s.…

Errol SomayMarch 1, 2013